
THE STORY 

OF 

GEORGIA 

MA$ $E^Y AND WOOD 




D-C-HEATH- Sc'CO - BOSTON 




Class 

Book , 

Copyright A^^. 



F ^ V u 



B 



^lA-i- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE 

After the portrait by Ravenet 



THE STORY OF 
GEORGIA 

FOR GEORGIA BOYS AND GIRLS 

BY 

KATHARINE B. MASSEY 

AND 

LAURA GLENN WOOD 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 
1904 



UBKAHY of OONGKESS 
Two OniHRji Received 

JUL 26 1904 

I Ctpyrigni Entry 

CLASS <^ XXo. No. 

Ct ^ 1 "1 ^ 



copy^ 



Copyright, 1904, 
By D. C. Heath & Co. 



,14-1 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

I. The Georgia Indians 

II. Three Indian Legends . 

III. The First White Men . 

IV. Oglethorpe 

V. The Cargo of the Good Ship Afuie 

VI. The Seal of the Georgia Colony . 

VII. Tomocliichi ..... 

VIII. Tomochichi — contijwed 

IX. The Salzburgers and Moravians . 

X. The Growth of the Colony . 

XI. Spanish Troubles .... 

XII. Silk Culture in Georgia 

XIII. Georgia as a Colony 

XIV. The Bethesda Orphan Home 
XV. Mary Musgrove .... 

XVI. Georgia as a Royal Province 

XVII. The Stamp Act and the Tax on Tea 

XVIII. The Liberty Boys .... 

XIX. The War of the Revolution . 

XX. The War of the Revolution — continued 

XXI. The War of the Revolution — concluded 

XXII. Some Revolutionary Characters . 

XXIII. Georgia as a State . . . . 

XXIV. The Yazoo Fraud 

XXV. The Departure of the Indians 



I 

5 

9 

II 

14 
18 
20 

23 
26 
28 
32 
36 
38 
40 

45 
47 
49 
53 
60 
66 
69 

75 
82 

87 
89 



IV 



CONTENTS 



CHAI'TER PAGE 

XXVI. The Mexican War 94 

XXVII. The Three Sections 96 

:?(XVIII. Slavery 100 

XXIX. Beginning of the Civil War ..... 104 

XXX. Some Men Prominent in War Times . . . 106 

XXXI. The Civil War 109 

XXXII. The War in Georgia 112 

XXXIII. What the War cost Georgia 116 

XXXIV. After the Surrender 118 

XXXV. Reconstruction .122 

XXXVI. The Growth of the State 129 

XXXVII. Some Georgia Inventions . . . . .136 

XXXVIII. Georgia Schools 141 

XXXIX. Georgia Writers 146 



THE STORY OF GEORGIA 



CHAPTER I 
THE GEORGIA INDIANS 

If we travel all over this great state of ours, we shall 
see cities, towns, villages, and cultivated farm lands. The 
rivers and streams turn the wheels of busy mills, and there 
are signs of life everywhere. But it was not always like 
this. Years ago, before white people settled in this coun- 
try, and even long after, dense forests covered the moun- 
tains, hillsides, and valleys, and the level lands in the 
south. Numerous tribes of Indians Hved under the tall 
trees and on the banks of the streams. 

The most powerful of these tribes were the Cherokees, 
who occupied the northern part of the state among the 
mountains, and the Creeks, who lived farther to the south. 
They were a tall, straight, and strong people, generous and 
good-natured. They were brave in battle, kind to stran- 
gers, and never forgetful of a favor, though very resentful 
when injured. They loved their people and their homes, 
and were especially kind to the aged. It was their belief 
that a person gained more wisdom the longer he lived, and 
they greatly reverenced a wise man. One of the first les- 
sons which the little Indian boy learned was that of respect 
for old age. The old men were the first to speak in the 



2 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

councils, while the young men Hstened reverently to their 
wise words. 

No idols were ever found among these Georgia Indians. 
There were no oaths in their language. They believed in 
a Great Spirit, who made them and gave them the pure 
air to breathe and all the joys of this beautiful world. 
When they died, this same Great Spirit would take them 
to a glorious place called the Happy Hunting Grounds. 
There they could spend their lives in hunting and feasting. 

These Indians were pleasure-loving people. They were 
fond of hunting, running, ball playing, and especially of 
dancing, in which the women frequently joined. Their 
feasts commonly closed with a dance. 

It is no wonder that, with this gay, free life, many lived 
to a great age. Tomochichi, the chief of the Yamacraws, 
died at the age of ninety-seven. Old Brim, the emperor 
of the Creeks, lived to be one hundred and thirty. 

The Indians did not know from what place they origi- 
nally came. There was an old story among some of them 
that their forefathers had come from the banks of the 
Mississippi River. They had conquered the people whom 
they found living here, and had settled down, building 
homes and planting large orchards. Other tribes had 
strange ideas regarding their origin. One tribe claimed to 
have issued from a cave near the Alabama River ; another 
declared that their ancestors had fallen from the sky. 

These Georgia Indians were different in some respects 
from the tribes in other parts of the country. They did 
not like to move about constantly. They had towns, gar- 
dens, and plantations. Near each wigwam was a little 
garden where the women raised corn, beans, melons, pota- 
toes, pumpkins, onions, pepper, and many other articles of 




THE GEORGIA INDIANS 3 

food. The men furnished the meat for the family. They 
used to go hunting in the forest and fishing in the fresh 
streams, returning home loaded down with all kinds of fish, 
and the meat of deer, bear, wild tur- 41i|j/ 

keys, and ducks. 

Sometimes the women broke the 
corn into small pieces and boiled it 
into a kind of pudding, called hominy. 
They barbecued their meat by hang- 
ing it over a fire until it was cooked. 
When we speak of hominy and bar- 
becued meat we must remember that 
the Indians gave us these words. a Georgia Indian in 

There were all kinds of fruits and ^^"^ ^^'''''• 

nuts to eat when fresh or to store away for future use. 
There were peaches, locusts, persimmons, walnuts, pecans, 
chestnuts, hickory nuts, and chinquepins. For sweets they 
robbed the home of the honeybee in some old tree. The 
grapevine clambered over bushes and trees, and, in its 
season, was heavy with luscious fruit. Berries of all kinds 
were plentiful. In the springtime, the ground was car- 
peted in places with the wild strawberry. The dogwood 
and Cherokee rose blossomed in profusion, and the land 
was filled with the singing of birds. 

Such was Georgia in those days of long ago. It is not 
strange that the Indians were content to spend their lives 
in the midst of so much plenty and beauty. They loved 
their grand forests and their clear streams, their mountains 
and valleys, and gave them names which have lingered 
with them and which we have learned to love. Each of 
these names had some meanmg to the Indians. Toccoa 
meant the beautiful ; Tallulah, the terrible ; Hiwassee, 



4 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

pretty fawn ; Amicololah, turiibling water ; Okeefinokee, 
quivering earth ; Chattahoochee, flowered rock ; Cohutta, 
frog mountain. The Indians told many beautiful legends 
about these places, a few of which have come down to us. 
Though the red men left our state long ago, we have 
pleasant reminders of them in these musical names and 
interesting stories. The objects they loved are the objects 
we love. The Chattahoochee, as it hurries along to the 
Gulf, and the Savannah, gliding smoothly to the broad 
ocean, bring to us the same message of helpfulness that they 
bore to those simple savages. Toccoa is still the beautiful ; 
Tallulah, still the terrible. 







Indians Broiling Fish. 

After a drawing made in 1858 by John White, 



CHAPTER II 

THREE INDIAN LEGENDS 

Nacoochee 

Mt. Yonah stands in White County, lifting its two peaks 
darkly blue against the sky. Near by are the clear head 
waters of the Chattahoochee River. When the Cherokee 
Indians lived in this country, they told the following story 
about Mt. Yonah and the lovely valley of Nacoochee which 
lies at its foot. 

A stern old Cherokee warrior had a daughter so beautiful 
that she was called Nacoochee, which means the Evening 
Star. It was said that she was like the smile of the Great 
Spirit ; no form was so graceful, no footstep in the corn 
dance so Hght. Many suitors sought her hand in marriage, 
but she refused them all, in her heart preferring her lover 
Sautee. But Sautee was the son of a hostile chief. There 
was war between the two tribes, and the parents of both 
the young people objected to the lovers' union. When 
Sautee and Nacoochee found that they could not gain the 
consent of their parents, they resolved to do without it. 

So, in the fragrant summer time, when all the hills were 
green and fair, when the purple and white clematis filled 
the valleys, when the clear Chattahoochee murmured over 
its rocky bed and the voice of the mocking bird filled the 
land, they stole away together and made their home in a 
cave on the side of Mt. Yonah. There they spent the 

5 



6 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

long summer days, while her fierce old father, with a hun- 
dred braves at his back, was searching for them far and 
near. At last they were found and dragged from their 
hiding place to the edge of a precipice on the mountain 
side. There Nacoochee, held by her father's arms, saw 
her lover hurled over the cliff to the rocks below. But 
love was stronger than death. Breaking away from the 
encircling arms, with a cry she flung herself over the edge, 
following her lover in death as in life. 

A lone pine marks the spot where Nacoochee and Sau- 
tee lie buried ; the Chattahoochee, which heard their vows of 
love, flows near their resting place, and over the blue crown 
of Mt Yonah the evening star looks down upon their grave. 

The Cherokee Rose 

Among the hills of north Georgia stood the lodge of a 
Cherokee chief. It was covered by a climbing rose vine, 
whose pure white blossoms with hearts of gold were set 
like stars amid the glossy green of its foliage. The chief- 
tain had a beautiful daughter, whose heart was as gentle 
as her face was fair. 

In one of their raids to the south, the tribe had captured 
and brought back with them a young Seminole brave, 
sorely wounded. Their purpose was to keep him until he 
recovered, and then tie him to a stake and torture him with 
hatchets and lighted splinters. 

The maiden had compassion on the wounded man. She 
nursed him, bringing cool water from the spring to allay 
his fever, and preparing nourishing food to keep up his 
strength. As he began to recover, he learned to love the 
thoughtful nurse who tended him so kindly, and she in 
turn loved the object of her care. 



THREE INDIAN LEGENDS 7 

When he was strong enough t(P travel, she planned his 
escape. He refused to go without her, and she consented 
to flee with him to his own land. One dark night they 
started on their southward journey. In the gloom and 
stillness of the forest, she thought of her beloved home, 
which she would never see again, and begged that she 
might be allowed to return for some little token to carry 
away with her. He consented, and, stealing back through 
the darkness, she plucked a little spray of the rose vine. 
This she carried with her through the long journey over 
hills and valleys, across rivers and plains, until they reached 
his land and people. There, when the Seminole built a 
lodge for her, she planted the little twig of the rose vine 
beside it. As the vine grew and flourished, covering the 
lodge with shining green foliage and starry flowers, she 
called it, in memory of her home among the hills, her 
Cherokee rose. 

The East Waters and the West Waters 
Once there was war between the Cherokees and the 
Catawbas. In this war a village of the Catawbas was de- 
stroyed and its inhabitants carried away captive. Among 
the prisoners was the lovely daughter of the Catawba 
chief, whose name was Hiwassee, or Pretty Fawn. A 
young Cherokee warrior, Notley, loved the beautiful cap- 
tive, and when she was restored to her father, he followed 
and begged her hand in marriage. 

The proud Catawba chief heard him with scorn. " The 
Catawbas," he said, ''drink the watefs of the east, and 
you drink the waters of the west. Whea you can find a 
spot where the eastern and western waters unite, then a 
Catawba may wed a Cherokee." 



8 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Notley was not discoiA-aged. He spent days and weeks 
searching the mountain glens for the meeting place of the 
waters. He found many springs from which waters flowed 
down the eastern side of the mountain while only a few 
feet away springs were sending their waters westward ; 
but he found no union of the eastern and western waters. 

One sunny noon he lay resting in the shade, watching 
the gambols of three little fawns which were drinking at a 
clear lake from which a stream ran to the west. Creeping 
near to them, he stretched out his hand, and had almost 
seized one of the pretty creatures, too innocent to be afraid, 
when he saw something which made him forget the fawn. 
It was another stream running from the same lake toward 
the east. He sprang forward in his joy, shouting, " Hiwas- 
see ! O Hiwassee ! I have found it." 

Taking one friend with him, he sought the Catawba 
village. On the way he met Hiwassee, and told her of his 
discovery. She said, " My father will never give me to 
you ; but I will flee with you." 

Notley pointed out the hollow of the mountain where 
the little lake lay, and told her to wait for him there. 

As she had said, her haughty father refused to listen to 
Notley. " Because you were kind to my child in her 
captivity," he said, *' I will let you depart in peace ; but 
you cannot marry her. " 

Notley found Hiwassee waiting for him on the mountain 
side. Her father never saw her again. Notley built a 
home near the western stream which he called Hiwassee, 
in honor of his wife. In after years he became a great 
and wise chief of the Cherokees. 

The clear mountain stream that pours from the little 
lake is still called Hiwassee Creek. 



CHAPTER III 



THE FIRST WHITE MEN 



In the spring of 1540, De Soto with a band of Spaniards 
left Tampa, Florida, and turned northward toward the 
land of the Creeks and the Cherokees. 
These Spaniards were men of rank and 
wealth. They were richly clad and 
mounted on fine horses. Their purpose 
was to find gold. They felt no love for 
the simple Indians, and treated them 
cruelly. Their selfish hearts cared for 
nothing but gold. 

The Indians met the Spaniards at first 
with friendly hospitality, giving them 
guides through the forests, and food for 
themselves and their horses. But when 
the Spaniards had robbed them of their 
treasures and burnt some of them at the 
stake, they began to see that these white 
men were wicked and cruel, and then they were not so 
ready to help them. 

At one Indian village, the three guides refused to show 
them the way to the next town. The Spaniards burnt one 
of the guides at the stake. The other two, fearing a 
similar death, promised to lead the travelers in the right 
way. The Spaniards then set up a cross, and told the 
Indians it was like the one on which the Savior of the 




A Spanish Knight of 
THE i6th Century. 



lO THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

world suffered for our sins. They made the Indians prom- 
ise to worship the cross, but the Indians obeyed simply 
through fear, and had no intention of keeping their word. 

When they reached the large village of Cutafachiqui, 
on the Savannah River, twenty-five miles south of where 
Augusta now stands, an Indian princess welcomed De Soto, 
giving him and his soldiers food and lodging. She made 
him a present of a rope of pearls, and he in return placed 
on her finger a ruby ring. There seemed to be peace and 
harmony between the two races. But the cruel nature of 
the Spaniards could not help showing itself. They broke 
open the Indian tombs to steal the pearls which were 
hidden there ; and when the party started away on their 
journey to the northwest, De Soto compelled the proud 
Indian princess, who was accustomed to be carried in a 
palanquin on the shoulders of men, to walk on foot in his 
train. In a few days she escaped to the woods, and the 
wicked Spaniards never saw her again. Doubtless her 
own people guarded her in some safe hiding place until 
the Spaniards were far away. 

De Soto led his band to the spot where Rome now 
stands. The guides told them that there was gold to 
the north, but that the mountains were too high and 
the paths too rough to travel in that direction. They ac- 
cordingly followed the Coosa River westward into Ala- 
bama, and then marched on until they reached the 
Mississippi. De Soto found no gold, but he found sick- 
ness and death, and finally a grave in the yellow waters 
of the great river. The selfish Spaniards met only dis- 
appointment; for although selfishness may seem to flourish 
for a time, it always ends in defeat. 



CHAPTER IV 

OGLETHORPE 

On the twenty-first day of December, in the year 1696, 
a little child was born in far-away England, whose name, 
James Edward Oglethorpe, has since become very dear to 
us. His parents, who belonged to a good old English 
family, lived in a beautiful home called Westbrook, about 
thirty miles from the great city of London. The house 
stood in a park of magnificent trees, and near by flowed a 
peaceful river. 

Oglethorpe's father had been a soldier, and the boy 
inherited a love for arms. When about eighteen years old 
he went to Europe to serve under a great general, Prince 
Eugene of Savoy. The prince became very fond of the 
fearless boy soldier. Oglethorpe took part in many battles, 
and fought bravely. In after years he loved to tell his 
friends stories of those exciting days. 

When he was nearly thirty years old, Oglethorpe be- 
came sole owner of the family estate, his father and older 
brothers having died. He was a wealthy man, but his heart 
was full of love for his fellow-men. He was not content to 
settle down to a quiet, easy life, while there were others 
about him in distress. 

At that time there was an unjust law in England, which 
allowed even honest men to be thrown into prison for debt, 
just like common criminals. Their wives and children were 
left to suffer and even die of cold, hunger, or sickness. 



12 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Oglethorpe's heart was moved with compassion when he 
heard of the misery endured by the unfortunate prisoners, 
and the distress of their families. He was a member of 
Parhament — the body of men whose duty it is to make 
the laws of England. Oglethorpe asked Parhament to ap- 
point a committee to visit the prisons and inquire into their 
condition. He himself was made one of the committee. 

The visitors were touched by the sad sights which they 
saw in the prison. Some of the prisoners were in chains. 
Many were sentenced for life because of a small debt. 
They had no power to protect themselves from the heart- 
less wardens, who often treated them with extreme cruelty. 
The English people were stirred with indignation when 
they heard what injustice was being done to their coun- 
trymen. Some of the worst evils were remedied, and the 
prisons were afterward kept in a better condition. Almost 
all of the inmates were set free, but many of them had no 
homes and no way of earning a living. 

Oglethorpe determined to help a few of these unfortu- 
nate men to make a new start in hfe. ^There were vast 
lands in America, claimed by the EngHsh, which had not 
been settled by white men. They were covered with im- 
mense forests, and inhabited by numerous tribes of Indians. 
Oglethorpe asked George II, king of England, to allow a 
number of these unhappy debtors to settle in a part of this 
land. The king gladly granted his request, and gave to 
him the territory lying between the Savannah and Alta- 
maha rivers for this noble enterprise. He knew that a col- 
ony placed here would also serve to protect the Carolina 
province against the Indians. 

No rogues were wanted in this colony; therefore the 
men were carefully selected, and, in every case, the creditor 



OGLETHORPE 



13 



was willing to cancel the debt. The new colony was to be 
called Georgia, in honor of the king. Here every one could 
begin life afresh, free from the burden of debt. Oglethorpe 
and twenty other benevolent Englishmen were appointed 
trustees, to have control of the government of the colony. 
Oglethorpe was selected to take charge of the colonists 
and settle them in their new home. For weeks before 




King's Bench Prison, London, for Poor Debtors in the Eighteenth 

Century. 

their departure from England, he saw that the men were 
drilled daily in the use of arms. The Spaniards in Florida 
were very hostile toward the Enghsh settlers in America, 
and there were many unfriendly Indians who resented the 
coming of the white men into their country. Oglethorpe 
wished, therefore, to prepare the colonists to defend them- 
selves against enemies in the strange new land to which 
they were ^oing. 



CHAPTER V 

THE CARGO OF THE GOOD SHIP ANNE 

One morning in the month of November, of the year 
1732, the good ship Anne left her safe EngUsh harbor and 
started on a long, perilous voyage across the broad Atlan- 
tic Ocean. She carried a precious burden, for brave hearts 
are of greater value than rich jewels, and there were many 
resolute spirits in the little company grouped on the ship's 
deck. 

These people had not led happy lives in the homes that 
they were leaving. They were those unfortunate debtors 
and their families whom Oglethorpe had rescued from 
distress. The Httle band was composed of about one 
hundred and thirty men, women, and children, including 
their noble leader, Oglethorpe, who accompanied the party 
at his own expense. 

The Sunday before had been spent at Milton on the 
Thames River. There the emigrants worshiped together 
and asked God to bless and care for them in their danger- 
ous undertaking. 

The long voyage was safely accomplished except for the 
death of two little babies, one eighteen months old and the 
other only six months old. General Oglethorpe says in one 
of his letters to England that they were ''two delicate little 
boys." They were buried in the deep blue water, but we 
may be sure they were not forgotten. Mothers are the 

14 



THE CARGO OF THE GOOD SHIP ANNE 



15 



same everywhere, and they always carry in their hearts 
the memory of the dear baby faces. 

In the latter part of January, 1733, a landing was made 
on the South Carolina coast. The governor of the prov- 
ince and his hospitable people welcomed the newcomers 
warmly and entertained them at Beaufort, while their leader 
went ahead to select a suitable site for their new town. 

After sailing about eighteen miles up the Savannah River, 
General Oglethorpe came to a high bluff in a curve of the 




Map of Original Grant of Georgia, 1732. 



river. Here he landed and explored the region. The 
balmy breath of spring was beginning to quicken every- 
thing into life. The fragrant yellow jessamine threw its 
green and golden garlands everywhere. The air was filled 
with the songs of birds. No wonder that Oglethorpe se- 
lected this beautiful spot for the location of the new town, 
which he decided to call Savannah, in honor of the calm 
river flowing by. Hearing that a tribe of Indians lived 
near, Oglethorpe visited them and made a treaty of friend- 
ship with their chief ; then he returned to Beaufort, South 
Carolina. 



i6 



THE STORY OF GEORGIA 



The Sunday following his return was set aside as a day 
of thanksgiving and feasting among the colonists. The 
kind South Carolina people sent them hogs, turkeys, beef, 
and quantities of all kinds of food. How the newcomers 
must have enjoyed their first thanksgiving dinner in the 
new country ! 

As the good ship Awie could carry her cargo no far- 
ther, the rest of the journey had to be made in smaller 
boats. On the I2th of February, 1733, Yamacraw Bluff was 




Original Plan of Savannah, Georgia. 

From a print dated 1741. 

reached. The men worked so faithfully that four large 
tents were soon raised and ready to protect the entire 
party during their first night on Georgia soil. Oglethorpe 
wrapped a cloak around him and lay on the ground 
by the great fire, like a shepherd keeping watch over 
his sheep. 

On the next morning he called the settlers together to 
give thanks to God for keeping them in safety through the 
long voyage. He spoke to them very earnestly, and told 
them that it was their duty to set a good example to the 
ignorant natives. It was his greatest wish that the settle- 



THE CARGO OF THE GOOD SHIP ANNE 1 7 

ment of Georgia should prove a blessing and not a curse to 
the Indians. 

The men went cheerfully to work to clear the land and 
build homes. For weeks everybody was kept busy. Ogle- 
thorpe was everywhere, helping and encouraging his com- 
panions. He would not allow the men to build a house for 
him. His tent was placed under four tall pines, where he 
lived for nearly a year. Oglethorpe himself planned the 
new town, and the beautiful city of Savannah stands to- 
day, with her broad streets and open squares, as a lasting 
monument to the taste and judgment of her founder. 

But there are always great hardships and dangers for 
those who undertake the task of settling a new country, 
and our colonists had their share in the years that fol- 
lowed. It often required stout hearts to keep them from 
despairing, but the colony remained and grew, until it has 
come to be a great state of over two million people. While 
we speak with pride of our beloved state, we must remember 
to pay all honor to the brave company who made it possible 
for her to become the Empire State of the South. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE SEAL OF THE GEORGIA COLONY 

The seal which was made in colonial days for stamping the 
legal papers of the colony of Georgia is an interesting one. 




The Seal of the Georgia Colony. 

On the front face there are the figures of two men rest- 
ing from their labors. Each holds a spade, for agriculture 
was to be the chief employment of the colonists. Two 
streams flow from the urns upon which they lean. These 
streams represent the Savannah and Altamaha rivers, the 
northern and southern boundaries of the colony. In the 
center sits the figure of a woman wearing a liberty cap. 
She is the genius of the colony. In one hand she holds 
a spear, while the other rests upon a cornucopia, or horn 
of plenty. The spear signifies the power of the colony 



THE SEAL OF THE GEORGIA COLONY IQ 

to overcome its foes. Over all is a Latin inscription, 
Colonia Georgia augcai, which means, " May the Georgia 
colony flourish." 

The other face of the seal shows silkworms in various 
stages of their labor, with the suitable motto, Non sibi sed 
aliis, which means, " Not for themselves, but for others." 
In this way did the trustees signify that silk culture was in- 
tended to be an important industry in Georgia. The motto 
which they chose calls to mind the unselfish motives of the 
trustees in devoting their time and money to the planting 
of the new colony. 

When Georgia ceased to be governed by the trustees, 
this first seal was defaced so that it could no longer be used, 
and another was adopted for the royal province. 



CHAPTER VII 

TOMOCHICHI 

The nation of Creeks lived in southern Georgia. From 
this manly race came Tomochichi, chief of the little tribe 
that Oglethorpe found living on Yamacraw Bluff. Tomo- 
chichi had been a great warrior in his younger days. He 
was still tall and erect when Oglethorpe first saw him, 
though ninety-one years old. 

Tomochichi was much loved by the Creek Indians ; he 
had fought, fished, and hunted with the old men, their 
sons and grandsons. But a short time before the colonists 
came to Georgia he had been banished from the tribe, on 
account of some disagreement about the government. 
With a few devoted men who followed him into exile, the 
aged warrior wandered through the forests until he at 
length found a home on the banks of the Savannah River. 

Tomochichi was greatly disturbed when he heard that 
the white men were going to settle near to his tribe. He 
was afraid that they would drive his people from their new 
home. But Oglethorpe was so kind and generous that the 
chief lost all fear, and freely gave his promise of friendship. 
He kept that promise faithfully, and became, next to Ogle- 
thorpe, the strongest protector of the colony. 

Oglethorpe was anxious to have the young colony on 
friendly terms with the other Indian tribes. Therefore Tom- 
ochichi sent messengers to the Creek chiefs, and arranged 



TOMOCHICHI 21 

for a meeting with his new white friend. The convention 
assembled in one of the newly built houses in Savannah. 

When the Indians were seated, a tall old man whom the 
English called Long King stood up. He made a lengthy 
speech, welcoming the strangers to the land of the red men. 
He said that the same Great Spirit who made both the poor 
ignorant Indian and the wise white man had sent the Eng- 
Hsh hither to teach them, their wives, and their children. 
He and his brother chiefs were very thankful for this, and 
freely gave in return all the land which they themselves 
did not want. He thanked Oglethorpe for his kindness. to 
Tomochichi and his band. He said that Tomochichi, who 
was related to him, was a good man and had been a great 
warrior. It was on account of his goodness and bravery 
that he had been chosen chief of the Yamacraw tribe. 

Then each chief came forward and laid a bundle of 
buckskins at Oglethorpe's feet. This was the richest 
present an Indian could bestow. They gave the best they 
had with friendly hearts, wishing to live in peace with their 
white brothers. 

Tomochichi arose, and, bowing low, told how poor and 
helpless he and his men had been, and how they had 
feared the coming of the English. But the white men had 
been good to them, and had taught their children. Turn- 
ing to Oglethorpe, he said, '' Here is a little present. " It 
was a buffalo's skin, painted on the inside with the head 
and feathers of an eagle. The eagle signified speed and 
the buffalo strength ; the soft feathers of the eagle repre- 
sented love ; the warm buffalo skin represented protection. 
As the EngHsh were swift as the bird and strong as the 
beast, he hoped they would love and protect the little 
families of their Indian friends. 



22 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Each chief made some little speech, and Oglethorpe 
replied to them all in so kindly a way that he won their 
entire confidence. 

When the meeting was over, Tomochichi invited the 
chiefs to his town, Yamacraw, where they spent the night 
in feasting and drinking. Oglethorpe gave the chiefs 
numerous presents, so that they went back to their homes 
with happy hearts. 

When Oglethorpe felt that he could safely leave the 
colonists, he decided to make a visit to England. He took 
with him Tomochichi, his wife and nephew, and several 
chiefs, for he wished them to see how rich and powerful 
the English nation was. 



CHAPTER VIII 
TOMOCHICHI {continued) 

The Indians caused a great sensation in England. 
Crowds flocked to see them wherever they went, and they 
received many presents. 

The king invited the party to visit him. They were 
carried to the palace in three of the king's coaches, each 
drawn by six horses. Tomochichi and his wife, Scenauki, 
were gorgeously dressed in scarlet, with gold trimmings. 

The Indian chief presented the king with a bunch of 
eagle feathers. He said, " These are the feathers of the 
eagle, which is the swiftest of birds, and who flyeth all 
around our nations. The feathers are the sign of peace 
in our land, and have been carried from town to town 
there ; and we have brought them over to leave with you, 
O great king. O great king, whatsoever words you shall 
say to me, I will tell them faithfully to all the kings of the 
Creek nations." 

The king was pleased with Tomochichi's speech. He 
graciously accepted the token of peace and good will, and 
told Tomochichi that he would always love and protect 
him and his people. 

Tomochichi made many friends by his manly dignity and 
his thoughtfulness for others. At one time he visited the 
famous school at Eton. He was pleased with the exercises, 
and, on leaving, asked that the students be given a holiday. 
You may be sure there was a loud hurrah at this, and that 
the boys remembered his visit with pleasure. 

23 



24 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

While in London, Tomochichi and Toonahowi, his 
nephew, had their pictures taken together. This is the 
only picture we have of Tomochichi. 

The Indians were happy and contented until one of their 
number died from smallpox, a disease common among In- 
dians. They grieved for him greatly, and wished to bring 
him back to be buried in his native land. But that could 
not be done. He was the first Indian buried in EngHsh 
soil. His arms and blankets, glass beads, feathers, and 
silver money were put into the grave with him. Ogle- 
thorpe was very kind to the Indians in their sorrow. He 
took them to his country home where they could mourn 
after their own manner. 

The loss of their friend made the Indians long for home. 
They had been in England four months, and Tomochichi 
now insisted on returning. They wished to see their own 
people and talk over the sights they had seen in the won- 
derful country of their English friends. 

On their return the chiefs told strange stories of the 
Englishmen and the great stone castles in which they Hved. 
They generously distributed among their friends the pres- 
ents which they had received in England. They never 
forgot that visit, but carried the news of the curious things 
they had seen into every wigwam in the Creek nation. 
Their visit made them more desirous than ever to live at 
peace with the powerful white men. 

Tomochichi was especially grateful for the favors which 
had been shown him. He tried to return the king's kind- 
ness to him by helping the colonists. When Oglethorpe 
came back from England, Tomochichi accompanied him on 
a long trip to the south. Then he settled down at Yama- 
craw to spend the rest of his days in quiet. It was only a 



TOMOCHICHI 25 

short distance to Savannah, so that he could see the colo- 
nists almost daily. Very often he sent them presents of 
fish or game. 

Tomochichi became greatly interested in a little school- 
house, the Irene, which the Moravians had built near 
Yamacraw for the Indian children. He was pleased to 
know that the children of his tribe could be taught the 
good word. 

In the year 1739 Tomochichi became very feeble. He 
was then ninety-seven years old. One day in October, he 
called his men around him. He told them that the Great 
Spirit was going to take him from them. He wished them 
never to forget how kindly the EngHsh king had treated 
him, and urged them to remain on friendly terms with the 
colonists. He spoke tenderly of General Oglethorpe, 
whom he loved and trusted. He asked to be buried in 
Savannah among his white friends ; he knew that his 
grave would make the town and her people dearer to the 
Indians, who held as sacred the tombs of their loved ones. 

There was widespread sorrow over the death of this 
noble man. He was buried in Savannah, as he wished. 
General Oglethorpe and several prominent citizens of the 
town acted as pallbearers. His grave was made in the 
center of one of the principal squares. During the funeral 
service, guns were fired from the battery to show the deep 
respect in which the aged chief was held. 

There is no stone to mark the burial place of this strong 
friend of Georgia's first colony. But his .simple life of 
courage, faithfulness, and love for his fellow-men will stand 
as its own monument, more lasting than one raised by 
human hands. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE SALZBURGERS AND MORAVIANS 

Far away across the ocean, in the pleasant country of 
Austria, stands the Httle city of Salzburg. It fills a valley 
of the Alps Mountains, through which the Salzach River 
flows. Among these mountains and in this valley there 
once lived a simple peasant people, who worshiped God 
in the way which they thought was right, but not in the 
way of those around them. For this reason a fierce perse- 
cution was waged against them, and thousands of these 
peasants were compelled to leave their homes among the 
mountains and to seek places of refuge in foreign lands. 

A little band, seventy-eight in number, with their pastor, 
Bolzius, and their teacher, Gronau, fled to England in 1732. 
There they heard of the new colony of Georgia which 
Oglethorpe had just founded, and they determined to seek 
a home across the waters. In 1734, aided by a kindly Eng- 
lish society, and by their own friends in Germany, they 
embarked for the land of promise. 

At Savannah they were kindly received by Oglethorpe 
and his settlers. They did not wish to estabhsh them- 
selves in the level country near the sea. Remembering 
their own native mountains and river, they asked to be 
allowed to choose a land of hills and streams. A suitable 
spot was found for them about thirty miles from Savannah. 

It was in the early spring, when all the country was bright 
with flowers and echoing with the songs of birds. When 
the Salzburgers had chosen a spot for their village, they 

26 



THE SALZBURGERS AND MORAVIANS 



27 



sang a hymn of praise to the God who had preserved them 

in their trials and led them to this beautiful land. They 

named their town Ebenezer, which 

means, " Hitherto hath the Lord 

helped us." 

Being accustomed to hard work and 
simple living, these people pros- 



pered. They built a church of 
brick which had been brought 
from Germany. This 
church is still standing 
and bears over the door 
the date of 1 769. Their 
settlementwas founded 
in what is now called 
Effingham County. 
Their descendants at 
the present day are 
among the best citizens 
of Georgia. 
Another sect of persecuted Protestants found a home 
in Georgia. They were a band of Moravians, who settled 
between Ebenezer and Savannah. They were an indus- 
trious and thrifty people, and their settlement was a model 
of neatness and prosperity. They established a school- 
house for Indian children, and named it Irene. But when 
the troubles with the Spaniards began, they refused to be 
soldiers, because they thought that war was wrong. The 
other colonists did not like them when they would not help 
in the war against the Spaniards, and, finding their homes 
in Georgia no longer pleasant when they could not agree 
with their neighbors, they removed to Pennsylvania. 




The Salzburger Church 



CHAPTER X 
THE GROWTH OF THE COLONY 

No band of colonists ever had a more unselfish leader 
than James Oglethorpe. He did not think his work fin- 
ished when he settled his followers in Savannah, but 
tried in every way to lessen their hardships and bring the 
colony into a prosperous condition. The colonists carried 
all their difficulties to him and were satisfied with his 
decisions. 

Although the Indians had professed friendship for the 
white people, Oglethorpe thought it necessary to provide 
further protection. He had a fort built on the Great 
Ogeechee River about eighteen miles from Savannah, which 
he called Fort Argyle. The fort stood just at the place 
where the Indians were accustomed to cross the river when 
they made trips into South Carolina. Oglethorpe sent 
thither a body of soldiers to guard the passage and ten 
families to cultivate the ground around the fort. Soon 
other emigrants found their way to Georgia and several 
small settlements were made. 

When Oglethorpe returned to England, at the end of 
fifteen months, he found that the king and queen were 
highly pleased with the good work which he had done. 
He was not idle while in England. Besides the Moravians, 
he sent over a number of Scotch Highlanders to strengthen 
the colony on the south. 

28 



THE GROWTH OF THE COLONY 29 

These colonists made a home on the Altamaha River 
and named their town New Inverness, a name which 
was afterward changed to Darien. They were a brave 
and hardy people, worthy to be put in so important a 
place. Some of the people of Carolina had tried to 
persuade them not to go so far south. They said that 
the Spaniards who occupied forts near by would shoot 
them upon the spot chosen for their homes. The brave 




Ruins of Oglethorpe's Fort at Frederica, 

Scots repHed, ''Why, then we will beat them out of their 
forts and have houses ready built to live in," 

To strengthen the colony on the north, the town of 
Augusta was marked out in 1735. The next year a 
garrison of soldiers was placed there. Warehouses were 
built and furnished with all kinds of goods, and the town 
became a great center for Indian trade. 

When Oglethorpe returned, he brought with him more 
than two hundred immigrants. He was kind and attentive 
to them during the whole of the long, stormy voyage and 



30 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

was especially thoughtful for the sick. Among the pas- 
sengers were two young men, John and Charles Wesley, 
employed to preach to the Indians. They became famous 
men in after years. John Wesley founded the Methodist 
denomination, while Charles Wesley was known as ''the 
sweet singer of Methodism. " 

Oglethorpe was warmly received in Savannah. Tomo- 
chichi had for weeks kept Indian runners ready to start 
out at a moment's notice to carry the good news of his 
return to the different tribes of the Creek nation. But 
Oglethorpe stayed only a few weeks in Savannah. He set 
out for St. Simons Island, where he had decided to settle 
some of the fresh arrivals. In a few months Frederica 
was built, and Fort St. Simons guarded the island on the 
south. The town was named in honor of Frederick, 
Prince of Wales, the eldest son of the English king. 

Oglethorpe visited New Inverness and quite won the 
hearts of the Scotch Highlanders. As a compHment to 
them he wore the Highland costume. A bed with sheets 
was prepared for him in one of the tents. Now, at 
that time, sheets were considered great luxuries in this 
part of the world. But Oglethorpe, who was never willing 
to be better provided for than those around him, decHned 
this kindness. Drawing his plaid around him, he lay down 
near the watch fire with his sturdy friends and slept in the 
open air. 

Shortly after the visit to New Inverness, Oglethorpe went 
on a journey to the southern part of the state, accompanied 
by Tomochichi, Toonahowi, and a party of other Indians. 
They explored the islands along the coast, and Toonahowi 
named Cumberland Island for the Duke of Cumberland, a 
son of the English king. When Toonahowi was in Eng- 



THE GROWTH OF THE COLONY 31 

land the duke had given him a watch. The grateful 
Indian now said that this island must be named for the 
duke so that he might be remembered while time lasted. 

For the next few years Oglethorpe spent a great deal 
of time fortifying the colony. He knew that Georgia 
would need strong defenses in case of an attack from the 
Spaniards. Forts were built on the islands on the coast, 
and along the Altamaha River. So much interest was 
taken in estabUshing the young colony on a firm founda- 
tion that in a few years the little band of one hundred and 
thirty settlers had grown to more than a thousand. 



CHAPTER XI 
SPANISH TROUBLES 

Spain had always claimed the territory of Georgia. As 
the Georgia colony grew, the Spaniards in Florida became 
troublesome. They resented the setthng of the land and 
the building of forts by the English, whom they hated. 
They would gladly have killed all the colonists if they 
could have done so. They tried again and again to turn 
the Indians against Oglethorpe, but were not successful. 
Indians from far and near offered him help in fighting the 
Spaniards. One tribe sent thirty warriors with their chief 
to make peace with Oglethorpe. They brought him a 
crown which shone with feathers of many colors and was 
ornamented with the horns of buffaloes. The Spaniards 
told the Indians that Oglethorpe was poor and could not 
give them presents. One Indian said : '' We love him. 
It is true he does not give us silver, but he gives us every- 
thing we want that he has. He has given me the coat 
off his back and the blanket from under him. " 

The Spaniards offered a large reward for the capture of 
Oglethorpe. They thought that greed might overcome 
the love that the Indians felt for the man who had always 
dealt so fairly with them. But they were again dis- 
appointed. Oglethorpe knew that a price was put upon 
his head, but he continued fearless in the path of duty and 
suffered no harm. 

32 



SPANISH TROUBLES 33 

As more soldiers were needed to defend Georgia, Ogle- 
thorpe himself went to England for aid. The king gave 
him a regiment and made him commander in chief of all 
the forces in Carolina and Georgia. On his first trip to 
America, Oglethorpe had sailed with one little ship and a 
few distressed emigrants. Now he set out with five ships, 
two men-of-war, and a regiment of more than six hundred 
soldiers. The presence of the soldiers and their brave 
leader gave to the colony a feeling of greater security 
than they had enjoyed for many long months. 

Oglethorpe had heard of an important meeting among 
the Cherokee chiefs to be held at Coweta Town, a distance 
of three hundred miles from Savannah. Seven thousand 
warriors were to be present. Oglethorpe wished to secure 
their friendship before they were bought by Spanish gold. 
He resolved to attend the meeting, and set out with a small 
company. The way was long and dangerous. The horses 
were often mired in the deep swamps. The men had 
to build rafts in order to cross many of the streams. At 
night Oglethorpe slept on the ground with his saddle for a 
pillow. There was no sign of a human habitation for over 
two hundred miles. But, as the party neared the town, 
they found that the hospitable Indians had placed food for 
them along their path. At the end of the journey, the 
warriors welcomed the travelers joyfully. Oglethorpe 
smoked the pipe of peace with the Indians, and made trea- 
ties of peace and friendship, which were of the greatest 
value to the colony in the war with the Spaniards which 
soon began. 

A party of Spaniards landed on Amelia Island, south 
of Cumberland Island, and killed two unarmed men who 
were carrying fuel. They hacked the bodies brutally, and 



34 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

then fled to their boats and sailed away. Oglethorpe fol- 
lowed with a large body of soldiers. He could not capture 
the fleeing Spaniards, but he drove them into St. Augus- 
tine, and burned their boats. 

Then Oglethorpe attempted an attack on St. Augustine, 
the Spanish stronghold in Florida, which proved unsuc- 
cessful. A fleet from Cuba came to the relief of the fort. 
The climate was so hot that many of the English soldiers 
were ill. Oglethorpe gave up the undertaking and re- 
turned to Frederica. 

The Spaniards had determined to destroy the settlers. 
Accordingly they prepared a fleet of thirty-six vessels car- 
rying five thousand soldiers, who were told to kill all the 
English along the Atlantic coast. The people of Georgia 
were terrified. But Oglethorpe did not fail them in their 
hour of danger. He gathered together seven hundred 
brave men to oppose the terrible enemy. The Spaniards 
landed on St. Simons Island. A bloody battle was fought 
near Frederica, and Oglethorpe, with his few hundreds, 
defeated the enemy and drove them from the land. The 
slaughter was so great that the place was afterward called 
Bloody Marsh. 

Near Frederica stood the only home which Oglethorpe 
ever owned in Georgia. Here he had spent his quiet hours 
in the little cottage with its garden and its orchard of 
oranges, figs, and grapes. Like his beautiful English home, 
this dwelling was surrounded by magnificent oaks. In full 
view were the fortifications and white houses of the island 
town. 

In 1743, the year after the battle of Bloody Marsh, 
Oglethorpe was called to England. He never came back 
to Georgia. He married and spent the rest of his days 



SPANISH TROUBLES 35 

quietly and peacefully among his friends, doing good 
wherever he found opportunity. He lived to see his 
colony grow and flourish, and after many years become 
an independent state. On the ist of July, 1785, he died, 
and was buried at Cranham, the home of his beloved wife. 
There is a marble slab in the Cranham church, bearing a 
long inscription which tells of the Hfe of this remarkable 
man. The noblest monument to his memory is the state 
which he founded, the earUer history of which is full of his 
unselfish works. 



CHAPTER XII 
SILK CULTURE IN GEORGIA 

Englishmen could manufacture silk goods, but the white 
mulberry tree, whose leaves furnish the food of the tiny 
silkworm, would not flourish in the moist climate of Eng- 
land. Therefore, her manufacturers had to send to the 
warm, dry regions of Italy, France, and China for the 
thread which they could not procure in their own land. 
Vast sums of money went for this purpose every year to 
foreign countries. 

The trustees of the Georgia colony were informed that 
the cHmate of Georgia was even more favorable for grow- 
ing the mulberry tree than that of Italy, the leading coun- 
try of the world in the production of silk. They were 
gratified to hear this. If the raw silk could be obtained 
from one of her own colonies, the Enghsh nation would be 
saved a great expense. The silk-producing industry would 
also give employment to many of her needy people. 

The trustees bought a quantity of silkworm eggs, and 
employed Mr. Amatis of Piedmont, Italy, to accompany 
the colonists to America. He taught them how to feed 
and care for the little insect, which must have pure air 
to breathe and the choicest mulberry leaves to feed upon. 
He also taught them how to wind off, at the proper time, 
the fine silken thread in w^iich the Httle spinner wraps 
itself as a protection against the weather. 

36 



SILK CULTURE IN GEORGIA 37 

All this undertaking required persevering and skillful 
hands. The Salzburgers, who were naturally a patient 
and industrious people, were more successful in the work 
than any of the other colonists. The raw silk which they 
sent back to England commanded the highest prices. On 
one of the king's birthdays, the queen wore a dress made 
from the Georgia silk. Every encouragement was given 
the colonists to make this their chief industry, and the re- 
sults at first were promising. But a few years' experience 
taught the workers that the climate was not so favorable 
for the raising of the silkworm as it was at first thought. 
Slight changes in the weather destroyed thousands of the 
tender insects. The price of labor was high, and the colo- 
nists found that they could make more money by the cul- 
tivation of cotton and rice. 

A short time before the Revolution, silk culture was 
abandoned everywhere in Georgia except among the Salz- 
burgers at Ebenezer. They continued to devote consider- 
able time to the growing of trees and the manufacture 
of silk goods. But when the trouble came on between 
the colonists and the mother country, even these untir- 
ing Germans gave up the industry which had proved so 
unprofitable. 



CHAPTER XIII 

GEORGIA AS A COLONY 

The charter of the colony of Georgia was granted to the 
trustees for twenty-one years. During all that time they 
made the rules by which the colony was governed. Ogle- 
thorpe was intrusted with the powers of governor as long 
as he remained in the colony. But after he was called to 
England, the trustees appointed Colonel William Stephens 
president of Georgia. 

The colony was not in a prosperous condition, and the 
people were discontented. In every other English colony 
the people could own slaves, buy rum, and dispose of their 
land as they pleased. The Georgia colonists alone were 
restricted in these matters by the rules of the trustees. 
Many crossed the river and made their homes in South 
CaroHna, hoping to better their fortunes. Petitions were 
sent to the trustees asking them to change the rules, so 
that the people of Georgia might have the same privi- 
leges that the other colonists enjoyed. The trustees for 
many years refused to grant this request, but they at last 
yielded, and rum and slaves, the two evils against which 
Oglethorpe had fought, were admitted into the colony. 
Very soon the people were given a free title to their land. 
This arrangement pleased them far better than the former 
plan of paying rent. Having obtained what they had so 
long desired, the colonists began to take fresh interest in 
cultivating the land, and Georgia grew more prosperous. 

38 



GEORGIA AS A COLONY 39 

Upon President Stephens's resignation, Colonel Henry 
Parker was appointed president. Colonel Stephens was 
very popular among the people of the colony. On account 
of his faithful service the trustees granted him a pension 
for the remainder of his life. 

During President Parker's administration a militia was 
organized, for Oglethorpe's regiment had been disbanded 
and the colony was left without protection. The Indians 
were not so peaceable as under Oglethorpe's wise manage- 
ment, and the colonists frequently had reason to fear 
trouble from this quarter. The militia was composed of 
citizens who were drilled in the use of arms. Those who 
owned three hundred acres of land were ordered to appear 
in Savannah at a certain time on horseback, to organize 
the cavalry. The citizens who owned less property com- 
posed the infantry. About two hundred and twenty men 
met in Savannah, in June, 1751, and paraded under the 
command of Captain Noble Jones. 

In 1752 a body of people settled in Georgia who became 
prominent in Georgia history. They were wealthy Con- 
gregationahsts from South Carolina, and were descendants 
t)f Puritans who had settled in Massachusetts more than 
one hundred years before. These newcomers made their 
home in what afterward became St. John's Parish. 

At the end of twenty-one years the trustees gave up 
the management of the colony, and Georgia passed under 
the direct control of the king. During all these years, the 
trustees had received no pay for their services. They had 
unselfishly given their time and money to the noble work 
of building up the colony. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE BETHESDA ORPHAN HOME 

The Bethesda Orphan Home was founded by the Rev. 
George Whitefield, who came to Georgia in 1738, for the 
purpose of helping in the conversion of the Indians. But 
when he saw how many destitute orphan children were to 
be found in the colony, he determined to build a home 
where they could be cared for and educated. Feeling 
that God had appointed this as his life work, he set about 
it earnestly. He collected a few of the most needy chil- 
dren, placed them in a rented house, and installed James 
Habersham as their teacher. 

The undertaking required considerable money. White- 
field accordingly left the children in Habersham's charge 
and went to England for assistance. The Georgia trustee^ 
received him kindly and granted him five hundred acres of 
land for the worthy enterprise. But, as Whitefield was 
obliged to raise the necessary funds by his own exertions, 
he began a series of ceaseless travels through England and 
America, preaching to crowds in the open air. At first 
only a few poor miners came to hear him. In a short time 
his audience had increased to twenty thousand people. 

The singing of this vast congregation could be heard 
two miles away and the powerful voice of the matchless 
orator reached a mile. When he spoke in Philadelphia to 
a crowd near the river, people on the New Jersey shore 

40 



THE BETHESDA ORPHAN HOME 



41 



could hear his voice distinctly. Under the magic of his 
eloquence, contributions for the orphanage rolled in. Even 
the poorest gave their mite. At one time he received one 
hundred dollars in half-pence, a load too heavy for one man 
to carry. 

No hstener could leave the preacher's presence without 
feeling that he must give something. Once when White- 
field was in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin attended one 
of the meetings, resolved not to contribute a penny. He 
had a pocketful of cop- 
per, silver, and gold. 
As Whitefield preached, 
Frankhn decided to give 
him the copper money. 
Later on, becoming 
ashamed, he decided 
to give the silver ; and 
finally, when the collector 
came around, the worthy 
man was so moved that he emptied his pocket, gold and 
all, into the plate. 

The site of the orphans' home was selected by James 
Habersham, about ten miles from* Savannah, and the first 
brick was laid by Whitefield, on March 25, 1740. At the 
same time he named the institution Bethesda, which means 
House of Mercy. Forty orphans entered the home at first, 
and the number afterward increased to one hundred and fifty. 
It proved a peaceful place and seemed a haven of rest to its 
founder, who always looked forward to the time when he 
could be at his own beloved Bethesda among the happy 
children. Before long the garden and plantation furnished 
nearly all the provisions necessary for the home table. 




The Bethesda Orphan Home. 

The first building. 



42 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Whitefield kept up his work untiringly throughout his 
Hfe. Wherever he went, shops were closed and all busi- 
ness was suspended, while great crowds gathered to hear 
him. In 1770 he left Bethesda for the last time to travel 
through the Northern colonies. He was ill and feeble, but 
he persevered in his work. When on the return journey 
he reached Newburyport, Massachusetts, he found that he 
could go no further. He died on September 30, 1770, and 
was buried at Newburyport. 

Whitefield left Bethesda to the care of a devout EngUsh 
lady, the Countess of Huntingdon. In the last years of 
his life he had wished to convert the orphanage into a 
college, and Lady Huntingdon tried to carry out his plans. 
But in 1773 the Home was struck by lightning, and the fire 
which followed left Bethesda a complete wreck. Another 
house was built, but Bethesda was never again so prosperous. 
The property passed into the hands of the state. 

The war came on and the work could not be carried on 
during those troublous times. The building was allowed 
to fall into decay, and after the war part of it was used 
as a stable. During this unhappy time the poor children 
had been cared for in Savannah. In 1802 the home was 
repaired and the children moved back. 

Again, in 1805, the building was destroyed by fire, and a 
hurricane desolated the rice fields. The trustees grew 
discouraged and sold the land, so that Bethesda at length 
became but a memory. 

After forty-six years had passed, the land on which 
Bethesda had stood became the property of the Union 
Society, one of the oldest charitable organizations in 
America. They built a new house on the site of the old 
one and converted it into a school for boys. When the 



THE BETHESDA ORPHAN HOME 



43 



Civil War broke out, the school was prospering; but 
Bethesda lay in the path of Sherman's devastating army, 
and again the children were moved to other quarters. The 
house was used as a hospital, but the buildings afterward 
fell almost into ruins and were occupied by some of the 
negroes who had been recently freed. 

The charitable people of Savannah, still undaunted. 




Bethesda Orphan Home near Savannah. 

As rebuilt. 



went to work some years after the war to rebuild the 
Home. Improvements were gradually made, and the old 
Bethesda has been transformed into a handsome brick 
structure fitted to accommodate more than a hundred chil- 
dren. No orphan boy is turned from its doors. Hundreds 
of children have gone out from Bethesda fitted for a use- 
ful life. Many of them have been counted among the 
best citizens of the state. Whitefield's little Home, first 



44 THE STORY OP^ GEORGIA 

planted in the wilderness of Georgia, marked the beginning 
of a great work. 

This Orphan Home and another, previously established 
by the Salzburgers, were the first of many charitable institu- 
tions in which the people of the state have provided for the 
afflicted and needy. The same sweet spirit of charity 
which characterized so many undertakings in the early days 
of the colony has continued to spread over the entire state. 
The Academy for the Blind at Macon, the Deaf and 
Dumb School at Cave Spring, the State Lunatic Asylum 
at Milledgeville, and many orphan homes and refuges for 
helpless women and children have since been established. 



CHAPTER XV 
MARY MUSGROVE 

When Oglethorpe first visited Tomochichi's village, he 
found living there a half-breed woman named ]\Iary Mus- 
grove. She had been educated in Carolina and could 
speak both the Creek and Enghsh languages. As she 
possessed a strong influence over the Creeks, Oglethorpe 
retained her as his interpreter. Her friendship was most 
valuable to him and his colony. With her husband, an 
Englishman named John Musgrove, she established a trad- 
ing house at Yamacraw. 

Shortly after Oglethorpe returned to England, John 
Musgrove died. Mary married a second and a third time ; 
her third husband was Thomas Bosomworth. Bosomworth 
persuaded his wife that through her descent from an old 
Indian king, she w^as the real owner of all the Creek ter- 
ritory and ruler over the Creek nation. He told her that 
the white men had no right to her land and that she must 
compel them to give it up. 

Mary took the title of Empress of the Creeks. She 
made the chiefs believe that she was their empress, and 
they pledged themselves to see that her rights were re- 
stored to her. She demanded that the English give up at 
once all the land lying south of the Savannah River, and 
threatened to destroy every settlement in that district if she 
w^as not obeyed. At the head of a large body of warriors 
she set out for Savannah. 

45 



46 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

The people were terror-stricken. When the Indians ar- 
rived, the soldiers met them outside of the town and told 
them that they could go no farther unless they gave up 
their arms. 

The chiefs were received in a friendly way, and the mat- 
ter could easily have been settled with them alone. But 
Mary continued to excite the greater body of the Indians. 
President Stephens saw that nothing could be accomplished 
as long as Mary and her husband were free. He ordered 
them to be closely confined, and then explained to the 
chiefs that they had been greatly deceived. He said that 
the lands did not belong to Mary ; they had belonged to 
the Creek nation until their wise rulers had given them 
up to the white people. 

As the chiefs were perfectly satisfied with President 
Stephens's explanation, it seemed probable now that every- 
thing would end peacefully. But suddenly Mary made her 
appearance in their midst. She had escaped from her 
guards and was drunk and furious. Her sudden appear- 
ance caused great commotion among the Indians. 

At this critical moment. Captain Noble Jones, at the 
head of his soldiers, ordered the Indians to give up their 
arms, which had been returned to them. Subdued by the 
presence of the soldiers, they obeyed. Mary was securely 
locked up once more, and the Indians were persuaded to 
return to their homes in a peaceful manner. 

Mary and her husband were kept in confinement for a 
month. She was finally allowed a large sum of money 
for her services as interpreter and was given the Island 
of St. Catherine, where she and her husband made their 
home. 



CHAPTER XVI 

GEORGIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE 

When Georgia passed out of the hands of the trustees 
she became a royal province, and her form of government 
was changed. The king now appointed a governor and 
council to represent him in the province. There was also 
a lower legislative house in which the members were chosen 
by the people. 

Georgia had only three royal governors, John Reynolds, 
Henry Ellis, and James Wright. Sir James Wright was 
particularly distinguished for his loyal service to the king. 
In the stormy days that preceded the War of the Revolu- 
tion, he labored incessantly to prevent Georgia from uniting 
with the other colonies. At the same time he urged the 
king to listen to the appeals of his American subjects and 
see that justice was done. 

Although a large province, Georgia was a weak one. 
The long western and southern frontiers were exposed to 
attacks from Indians and Spaniards. The forts were in 
ruins and there were not enough soldiers to resist the inva- 
sion of an enemy. The royal governors did much to 
strengthen the province. The old forts were repaired, 
others were built, and new companies of soldiers were 
formed. Treaties of friendship were made with the Indi- 
ans, and during the dreadful two years' war which Virginia 
and the Carolinas waged with the Cherokees the settlers 
of Georgia were unmolested. The most important new 

47 



48 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

settlement made during this period was that of Sunbury. 
This town, beautifully situated on the Medway River, about 
twelve miiles from the ocean, soon became a flourishing 
seaport. 

In February, 1761, a ship arrived from England bring- 
ing news of the death of George II, and of the coronation 
of his grandson. The new king, George III, was in most 
respects a good man, but stubborn and self-willed. This 
stubbornness proved the cause of much trouble between 
England and the colonists. But at the time of his acces- 
sion the Georgia colonists, like true subjects, proclaimed 
him king with a great celebration. This is the only time 
that such a ceremony was held on Georgia soil. 

In 1763 a treaty was made in Paris between England 
and her old enemies, France and Spain. By the terms of 
this treaty Spain gave up Florida to England, and France 
surrendered all claim to the Georgia land lying east of the 
Mississippi. The Spaniards moved away from Florida, and 
EngHsh friends took the place of Spanish foes. The king, 
moreover, added the land between the Altamaha and St. 
Mary's rivers to the province of Georgia, so that the prov- 
ince was benefited in many ways by this treaty. 

Now that Georgia was no longer a frontier province, her 
people had a feeling of greater security. Many colonists 
came in from other provinces. The new lands were cleared 
and settled, and Georgia became more and more prosperous. 
England was very kind to her youngest child, and King 
George bestowed many favors on the province. Therefore 
under the king's governors Georgia was free and happy, 
and grew steadily in population and prosperity. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE STAMP ACT AND THE TAX ON TEA 

Every one feels resentment at an unjust act. Some- 
times this resentment is kindled into open rebellion. This 
is what happened among the American colonists when 
Parliament tried to force upon them a law which seemed 
to them unjust. 

England had been engaged in war with various enemies 
for many years. She had been obliged to borrow so much 
money that her national debt had become enormous. The 
French and Indian War which had just ended had cost the 
nation three hundred million dollars. Though the people 
were already burdened with a heavy tax, a new one must 
be imposed to pay off this last debt. 

Parliament thought that the American colonies ought to 
bear the expenses of the war, as the money was spent in de- 
fending them. The colonies replied that it was England's 
duty to defend her children. They also said that they had 
aided England in the war as much as England had aided 
them. Furthermore, they claimed that it was not right to 
tax the colonists because the law stated that Englishmen 
should not be taxed unless they were represented in Parlia- 
ment. The colonists were as truly English subjects as 
their brothers across the water, but they were not allowed 
a representative in the British Parliament. Therefore they 
would not submit to taxation. 

49 



50 



THE STORY OF GEORGIA 



In spite of their protests, Parliament, in 1765, passed 
a law called the Stamp Act, which required that the paper 
used in all kinds of business in the colonies should bear an 
English stamp. The stamped paper was to be furnished 
to the colonies by the English government. Newspapers 
must be printed on paper of this kind. Notes, deeds, and 
even marriage licenses were of no value unless the paper 
used bore the royal stamp. The price of the stamp was 
added to the cost of the paper, and in this way the tax was 
to be secured. 




Penny 




Stamps used in 1765. 

These were not like our modern stamps with gum on the back, but were impressions 
on the paper, like a magistrate's seal. 



The news of the hateful act stirred the whole country. 
The people were wrathful. Groups of men surged excit- 
edly into the towns. Everywhere societies were formed, 
called Sons of Liberty. The members pledged themselves 
not to use the stamped paper, nor to allow it to be dis- 
tributed in the colonies. The cry all over the country was 
" Liberty, Property, and no Stamps." 

The Liberty Boys in Georgia were filled with indignation, 
and determined that none of the stamped papers should be 
used in the province. When the king's ship Speedwell 



THE STAiMP ACT AND THE TAX ON TEA 5 1 

arrived at Savannah, bearing the supply of papers for 
Georgia, it required the strictest vigilance to keep them out 
of the hands of the Liberty Boys. Governor Wright had 
the papers placed in a fort under strong guard. When the 
distributing officer arrived, he was landed secretly and 
taken under guard to the governor's house, which he did 
not dare to leave. After two weeks Governor Wright sent 
him to the country for protection. The province now was 
thoroughly aroused. Six hundred armed men assembled 
and threatened to take the papers by force and destroy 
them. Governor Wright, alarmed for the safety of the 
precious stamps, was compelled to place them on board 
the ship, entirely out of the reach of the Liberty Boys. 

So it came about that the EngHsh government could not 
force the colonies into buying her stamps. Parliament 
unwilUngly repealed the obnoxious law in 1766. The 
colonists joyfully returned to their obedience to the 
mother country, and peace and order reigned. 

But an obstinate king was on the throne of England. 
He thought that his royal authority had been abused and 
he never forgave the colonies for resisting the Stamp Act. 
He intended to show that Parliament could tax them and 
would, do so when it wished. Accordingly a tax was levied 
on paper, glass, painters' colors, and other articles manu- 
factured in England. The colonists refused to buy all such 
goods. The Liberty Boys in Georgia held a meeting, in 
which they solemnly agreed not to use any articles of Eng- 
Hsh manufacture. They resolved also to encourage the 
people to raise cotton and flax and to do their own spinning 
and weaving. 

Parhament repealed the tax on everything except tea. 
It was so small an amount that they thought the Ameri- 



52 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

cans would not notice it, or that they liked tea so well 
that they would overlook the tax. But England had not 
yet learned the spirit of the American people. They re- 
solved not to drink tea. The women gave up the tea 
parties which they enjoyed so much. Tea flavored by 
Enghsh tax was no longer refreshing ; it was bitter and 
distasteful. 

Enghsh vessels were loaded with tea and sent to the 
colonies. The Liberty Boys were ready for them. The 
ships that went to Philadelphia and New York were sent 
back home. In Charleston the chests were stored in damp 
cellars where the tea was soon ruined. Fifty of the Liberty 
Boys at Boston, dressed like Indians, boarded the ships 
and threw the tea into the water. This proceeding was 
known as the Boston Tea Party. 

The city of Boston was severely punished for the bold 
deed. English soldiers were sent to guard the harbor so 
that no vessels might bring in supplies to the people. When 
the Liberty Boys of Georgia heard of this act, they at once 
started a subscription for the relief of the Boston sufferers. 
In a few hours nearly six hundred barrels of rice were 
contributed and sent to their distressed countrymen. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE LIBERTY BOYS 

Unless the colonists were united, they were powerless 
to resist the oppressive acts of England. It was decided 
to call a Continental Congress to meet in Philadelphia, Sep- 
tember 4, 1774. Every EngHsh colony was urged to send 
delegates to this meeting. Governor Wright succeeded 
in preventing Georgia from sending a delegate. Another 
Continental Congress was called for May 10, 1775. In 
January of that year a provincial congress was held in Sa- 
vannah to elect delegates, but Governor Wright's influence 
was so strong that only five out of twelve parishes were 
represented and no delegate could be chosen. This is the 
reason that Georgia had no representative in the first and 
second congresses at Philadelphia. 

The people of St. John's Parish were indignant when 
they learned that Georgia could not stand by the side of 
her sister colonies in the general congress. The citizens 
of this parish were wealthy and influential and had inher- 
ited from their Puritan ancestors a courageous and inde- 
pendent spirit. They were determined to send a delegate 
from their parish, and elected Dr. Lyman Hall to repre- 
sent them in the Continental Congress. He was admitted 
as a delegate from St. John's Parish, but was not allowed 
to vote on subjects relating to the entire province. 

The other patriots, or friends of hberty, in Georgia 
were greatly mortified at the failure of the provincial con- 

53 



54 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

gress to send representatives from the province. These 
patriots became more and more active in the cause. Geor- 
gia was divided. There were many stanch royaUsts, or 
friends of the king, in the province, who thought that all 
these troubles could be brought to an end peaceably, and 
did not wish to break away from the mother country. 

While affairs were in this condition, there came the 
announcement of the battle of Lexington, in Massachu- 
setts. News did not travel fast in those days and three 
weeks had already passed since the battle. The tidings 
created profound excitement. There was no hesitation 
now. The blood of Americans had been shed by British 
soldiers. Loyalty to King George died out among the 
patriots, and Georgia, united in one opinion, cast in her lot 
with the other twelve colonies. 

A call arose on all sides for supplies of powder. On 
the night of May ii, a party of Liberty Boys broke open 
the magazine at Savannah and secured all the ammunition. 
Some of it was sent to Beaufort, South Carolina ; some 
was hidden away in garrets and cellars ; and it is said 
that a part was sent to Boston and used at the Battle of 
Bunker Hill. 

On June 5, 1775, the king's birthday was to be cele- 
brated in Savannah. A few nights before, the Liberty 
Boys spiked the cannon and threw them over the bluff 
into the river. The royalists drew them out, restored them 
to their proper places, and went on with the celebration. 
The Liberty Boys, not to be outdone in patriotism, erected 
a liberty pole in front of Tondee's Tavern and afterward 
paraded the streets with shouting and music. 

A council of safety was elected in Savannah to look 
after the affairs of the parish. A royalist who spoke 



THE LIBERTY BOYS 



55 



slightingly of the acts of the council was tarred and 
feathered, paraded through the town, and finally made 
to drink a toast to the success of American arms. 

Governor Wright became alarmed at the turn of affairs. 
He feared for his own safety if the Liberty Boys gained 
control of the province. He wrote to General Gage, com- 
mander of the British troops, asking for help. But the 




The Liberty Boys in 1775. 

Liberty Boys kept so close a watch over the mails that this 
letter fell into the hands of the authorities in Charleston. 
They took it out of the envelope and put in another, stating 
that everything in Georgia was peaceful and no help was 
needed. So no royal troops were sent to Georgia at that 
time. Years afterward, Governor Wright met General Gage 
in London, and for the first time found out why no soldiers 
had been sent to his aid. 



56 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

The provincial congress met in Savannah on July 4, 
1775, and elected a council of safety for the entire prov- 
ince. Even at that late hour a petition was sent to the 
king beseeching him to withdraw his fleets and armies. 
Thus to the very last did the peace-loving people of 
Georgia cling to the hope that the growing estrangement 
between England and her colonies might be checked. But, 
while she desired peace, Georgia also prepared for war. 
News came that a British ship, loaded with powder for 
the royahsts and Indians, would reach the province in a 
short time. The Liberty Boys banded together and seized 
the vessel when she arrived. They kept nine thousand 
pounds of the powder as Georgia's share of the prize, and 
sent five thousand pounds to help their friends in the 
North. This was the first naval capture of the War of 
the Revolution. 

Georgia was now in the hands of the council of safety. 
As several vessels from Boston bearing British troops were 
in the harbor, the council ordered the arrest of Governor 
Wright, to prevent communication on his part with the 
British ofificers of the ships. It was a daring thing to lay 
violent hands on the king's representative, but Major 
Joseph Habersham, with a small party, undertook the 
task. He went to the house of the governor, who had 
assembled his council to consider what should be done in 
this trying time. Major Habersham passed the sentinel 
who was guarding the door and entered the council room. 
Walking up to the governor, he placed one hand on his 
shoulder and said, "Sir James, you are my prisoner." The 
council, thinking they were surrounded by a large force, 
fled panic-stricken through doors and windows, leaving 
their governor to the mercy of the patriots. He was kept 



THE LIBERTY BOYS 57 

a prisoner for a few weeks in his own residence, but one 
night he sHpped out of the back part of the house, and was 
soon safe on board a British man-of-war. In this way the 
government of King George was overthrown in Georgia. 

The provincial congress met in January, 1776, and drew 
up a set of laws by which Georgia was to be temporarily 
governed. She was now a state and prepared to defend 
her rights as such. Archibald Bulloch was elected first 
president of the new state. The congress also chose five 
delegates to represent Georgia in the next Continental Con- 
gress. The men who received this honor were Archi- 
bald Bulloch, John Houston, Dr. Lyman Hall, Button 
Gwinnett, and George Walton. 

Eleven ships loaded with rice were lying at the wharves 
at Savannah waiting for the British men-of-war to depart 
before they went out to sea. The British soldiers who 
were in need of supphes determined to capture the rice 
ships. They came up the river one night and took posses- 
sion of some of the vessels. Fearing that an attack would 
be made on the town, the patriotic citizens of Savannah 
resolved to burn their homes rather than leave them in 
the hands of the British. South Carolina sent soldiers 
to help them repel the enemy. After four hours of fight- 
ing, the council of safety decided to burn the vessels. The 
ship hiveniess was first set on fire and put adrift among 
the others, which were soon in flames. Terror and con- 
fusion reigned among the British troops. They leaped 
from the ships into the water. Many were drowned ; 
others, reaching the land, fled across the marshes and rice 
fields, pelted by the shot of the patriots. This conflict, 
March 3, 1776, was the first battle of the Revolution fought 
on Georgia soil. 



58 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

In June three of the Georgia delegates took their seats 
in the most famous Congress that ever convened in 
America. The other two were detained at home, and 
so missed the honor of representing their country on 
this memorable occasion. 

On July 4 this august body assembled in the old State 
House in the city of William Penn. The Declaration 
of Independence lay upon the table. These earnest men 
had carefully considered the step they were about to 
take ; and now they solemnly pledged themselves to 
support the principles laid down in this important doc- 
ument. The old bell-ringer had been in the steeple 
from early morning, waiting for the good news. At two 
o'clock in the afternoon the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence was adopted. Immediately the triumphant chimes 
proclaiming freedom rang out to the people assembled 
below. They caught up the sound, until the quiet 
Quaker city resounded with the shouts of the overjoyed 
multitude. 

The glad news was sent in every direction. Messengers 
posted southward from one town to another, until on 
August lo the tidings reached the expectant inhabitants of 
Savannah, who were wild with delight. 

The Declaration of Independence was read to a great 
crowd at the Hberty pole. Thirteen salutes were fired in 
honor of the thirteen states. A grand dinner was served, 
at which all of the guests drank a toast, " To the United, 
Free, and Independent States of America. " In the after- 
noon there was a great funeral procession, when, with 
solemn tread and muffled drums, the government of King 
George of England was buried in the youngest of his 
American colonies. At night the whole town was illu- 



THE LIBERTY BOYS 59 

minated, and the greatest day that the people of Georgia 
had known since February 12, 1733, closed with bonfires 
and rejoicing. 

The signers of the Declaration of Independence from 
Georgia were Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George 
Walton. These names will ever be illustrious in the 
history of their state and country. 







Facsimile of SiGxNers' Names. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 

The cojonies knew that England would not give up her 
power over them without a stubborn fight, and accordingly 
they began to prepare for the dreadful conflict which must 
follow. Of all the provinces Georgia was the largest and 
the weakest. The British held the seacoast and Florida 
on the south was their stronghold. The Indians on the 
southern and western borders of the state sided with the 
British because the colonies could not afford to buy them 
with presents. There were many deserters from the Amer- 
ican cause who took refuge in Florida. They were called 
Tories, while those who were faithful to the cause of liberty 
received the nameof Whigs. Some of the Torieswere lawless 
men who had seized this opportunity to gratify their desire 
to rob and murder. Uniting with the British and Indians, 
they formed plundering parties which kept the inhabitants 
of south Georgia in a constant state of terror. From time 
to time the murderous outlaws swept down upon them, 
burned the houses, ruined the fields, and killed the defense- 
less people. One of the most daring Tory leaders was 
Daniel McGirth, who became notorious for his cruelty to 
the patriots. 

Congress gave Georgia all the help that it possibly could, 
but soldiers and money were needed everywhere and 
Georgia's share was not large enough to secure protection 
from the enemy. At last food became so scarce that the 

60 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



6l 



governor forbade the exportation of any kind of provi- 
sions. Up to this time Georgia had frequently sent 
supplies of food to her countrymen in the North. Two 
battalions of minutemen were raised to guard the frontiers 
against the raids of the British, Tories, and Indians. The 
colonial volunteers were given this name because they were 
expected to be ready at a minute's notice 
to pursue and punish marauders. 

For two years the great battles of the 
Revolution were fought in the Northern 
states. At the end of that time the 
British held only New York City and 
Newport, Rhode Island. Fearful lest 
all of America should be lost to them, 
they determined to gain possession of 
Georgia. This end accomplished, they 
intended to advance northward, conquer 
all the Southern states, and then win 
back what they had lost in the North. 

In 1778 General Clinton, commander 
of the British army in the North, 
planned two expeditions against Georgia. 
Colonel Campbell was to sail from New York with a large 
fleet and take Savannah; General Prevost, who was in 
command of the British in the South, was instructed to 
send an army from Florida to take possession of the south- 
ern part of the state. General Prevost divided his army 
into two parts, one going by land and one by sea. The 
two forces were to meet at Sunbury and capture the fort 
there. But the plan did not prove successful, and both 
divisions retreated to Florida, greatly disappointed by the 
failure of the enterprise. The unfortunate patriots whose 




A MiNUTEMAN OF THE 

Revolution. 



62 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

homes lay in the path of the army suffered severely. All 
their property was destroyed, and the people were obliged 
to leave their once beautiful and comfortable homes to seek 
charity among sympathizing friends. 

General Howe was in command of the American army 
in the South. When he heard of the plan of the British 
to attack Savannah, he strengthened his fortifications and 
prepared to repel the enemy. The state records were 
taken to Charleston, South Carolina, for safe keeping. 

On the 23d of December the British fleet appeared 
at Tybee. The vessels sailed up the river, and by the 
27th were anchored near Savannah. What a dreary 
Christmas that of 1778 must have been in Georgia! 
Colonel Campbell landed a short distance below the 
town with an army of more than 2000 men. General 
Howe had only 672 men. He formed his soldiers in battle 
line and waited for the British to approach. The Ameri- 
cans were strongly protected on their front, left, and right, 
but General Howe had neglected to guard the rear. It 
was a fatal mistake. The British commander learned of a 
path through a swamp leading to the rear of the Ameri- 
can army. Guided by an old negro, part of the enemy 
made their way through this path and attacked the Ameri- 
can force in the rear, while the British artillery opened 
fire upon their front. The gallant little army was taken 
by surprise. They fought bravely, but their numbers 
grew steadily less under the relentless British fire, until 
they were obliged to retreat 

In a panic, they made their way back through Savan- 
nah, fleeing before the enemy. The once quiet town re- 
sounded with the cries of those who fell, pierced by the 
British bayonets. Many of the Americans were killed ; 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 63 

many were taken prisoners. All that was left of the 
army crossed over into South Carolina, and Georgia was 
given up to the British. The prisoners were put into foul 
prison ships, where their suffering was intense. Numbers 
of them died, and those who lived to return home after 
weary months were broken down in health. They were 
carried from the ships by strong arms and tenderly nursed, 
but the horrible life they had led in those floating dun- 
geons had left lasting marks. 

Colonel Campbell pushed on northward. He took 
Ebenezer and estabUshed an army post there. The brick 
church, which was the pride of the Salzburgers, was first 
converted into a hospital, and afterward used as a stable. 
General Prevost now succeeded in capturing Sunbury. 
The cannonading was so heavy that it was heard by the 
American army encamped at Purysburg, on the CaroHna 
side of the Savannah River. 

About the middle of January, Augusta fell into the 
hands of the British. F'orts were placed all along the 
Savannah river to guard against a return of the American 
army, and Georgia, north and south, was overrun by the 
enemy. Unhappy days followed for those who would not 
swear allegiance to the king of England. Their arms 
were taken from them. If any weapons were found con- 
cealed, the severest punishment was meted out to the 
culprits. Rewards were offered for the capture of pa- 
triots, and no trading was allowed with those who were 
not friendly to the British. All of the inhabitants who 
were able to do so, moved their families from the state. 
Those who were left suffered cruelly from poverty and 
abuse. 

General Lincoln succeeded General Howe as commander 



64 . THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

of the American army in the South. He spent the ear- 
lier part of the year 1779 in strengthening the army. 
Though too weak to drive the British from Georgia, the 
patriots could prevent them from crossing into South 
CaroUna. They were near enough to keep a close watch 
on the enemy, and to harass them at every opportunity. 
When they had once placed their families in security, 
many of the men of the state joined Colonel John Dooley, 
who guarded the river below Augusta. Parties of Ameri- 
cans sometimes crossed the river, attacked foraging bands 
of British, captured horses and provisions, and then re- 
treated to their camp. Many daring deeds and hairbreadth 
escapes attended these bold raids. The quiet river proved 
a friend and protector to those who were fighting for a 
cause dearer than their lives. 

In February Colonel Pickens of South Carolina and 
Colonels Clarke and Dooley of Georgia, in a fierce fight 
at Kettle Creek, scattered a large Tory band under their 
noted leader, Boyd. Boyd was slain, and the members of 
his band who were not killed or captured, fled from the 
state and took refuge with the British. This battle broke 
up the Tory force in north Georgia and put fresh courage 
into the hearts of the patriots. Colonel Campbell, alarmed 
by the success of the Americans, abandoned Augusta and 
moved farther south, nearer the main army in Savannah. 

The success of Kettle Creek and the fact that the 
American army had now increased in numbers, made 
General Lincoln feel that the time had come to rid Georgia 
of the enemy. But the first detachment of men which 
he sent over the river was disastrously defeated on Brier 
Creek in March. This defeat was a great disappointment 
to the Americans. They realized more than ever that 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 6$ 

General Prevost was determined to keep possession of 
Georgia, and that they could not drive him away. They 
had to be content with guarding South Carolina from the 
British and protecting the people left in Georgia. 

After Augusta was abandoned by the British, many of 
the inhabitants of that region returned to their homes, 
hoping for better times. Every male from sixteen years of 
age upward was armed. Colonels John Dooley and Elijah 
Clarke were untiring in their watchful care over the fron- 
tiers, which were continually threatened by Indians and 
Tories. Colonels John Twiggs, Benjamin and William 
Few, and other brave men hovered about the outposts of 
the enemy, annoying them in every possible way. Their 
zeal encouraged the people in their homes and kept the 
spirit of liberty alive in the hearts of the sorely tried 
patriots. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION {contmued) 

The brave Revolutionists were not to be left unaided in 
their long, weary struggle. In 1778 France recognized 
the independence of America, and sent a large fleet under 
Count d'Estaing to her assistance. It was important for 
the American cause that Savannah be taken from the 
British. Count d'Estaing was persuaded to help in this 
undertaking. On September the first, 1779, the French 
fleet arrived off the Georgia coast. General Prevost has- 
tened to fortify Savannah, working his men day and night. 

Count d'Estaing sailed up the river and landed his force. 
He camped below Savannah and sent a letter to General 
Prevost demanding the surrender of the city to the king 
of France. But General Prevost was not quite ready, and 
asked for a truce of twenty-four hours. Count d'Estaing 
unwisely granted the request of the British general, who 
took advantage of that time to complete his fortifications. 
Reenforcements also arrived, and, when the truce expired. 
General Prevost refused to surrender. 

The American army joined the French, the city was 
surrounded, and the siege was begun. The bombardment, 
which began at midnight of October the third, was kept up 
for five days. There was great suffering among the un- 
fortunate inhabitants. Shot and shells riddled the houses. 
Helpless women and children, and old men who could 

66 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 6/ 

not join in the fight fled into cellars. They were not safe 
even there, for many were killed by shots intended for the 
enemy. 

On October the ninth Count d'Estaing attempted a bold 
assault on the city. He tried to keep his plan a secret, 
but the British were informed of the proposed attack by 
a deserter, and they were prepared. The American and 
French troops were received with a deadly fire. As the 
foremost soldiers fell, their comrades took their places. 




Sergeant Jasper at Fort Moultrie. 

only to suffer the same fate. Count d'Estaing was 
wounded twice and was borne from the field. 

Some of the men in the American column pressed on 
until they reached the parapet, and there set up the colors 
of South Carolina. But their triumph was a short one. 
A heavy shot broke the flagstaff and drove the brave men 
back. Fearful lest the beloved flag should fall into the 
hands of the enemy, Sergeant Jasper sprang forward, 
rescued it, and carried it back to his regiment. But this 
act cost him his life ; he received a wound, which in a 



68 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

short time proved fatal. F'aithfully had the gallant hero 
served his country, and he entered into his rest Hke a true 
soldier. 

While the battle was raging, Count Pulaski attempted a 
daring feat. At the head of a detachment of two hundred 
men he charged through an opening in the enemy's works. 
The little company rode at full speed, following their fear- 
less leadef. But as they were passing between two bat- 
teries, a shower of shot poured upon them, throwing their 
ranks into disorder. Count Pulaski was mortally wounded. 
He was carried from the field and placed on a ship about 
to sail for Charleston. In a few days he breathed his last, 
and was buried in the ocean. 

It is sad to think of the precious lives that were lost in 
the bloody assault and the hopes that were crushed in the 
hearts of the friends of liberty. Their dead and wounded 
lay about them ; the British still held Savannah, and the 
French and American armies were broken up. The dead 
were buried ; the French sailed away, and the American 
army retreated, for the second time, into South Carohna 
and left unhappy Georgia to the enemy. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION {concluded) 

Georgia was in a worse condition now than she had 
ever been. The patriots were discouraged, and the Brit- 
ish dehghted more than ever in persecuting them barba- 
rously. The country was infested with the worst class of 
British soldiers and Tories. The inhabitants were robbed 
even of their clothing ; rings were taken from the ears 
and fingers of the women ; and little children were beaten 
to make them tell where valuables were hidden. Men who 
had stayed at home and tried to protect their property and 
families were now driven from the state. Almost every 
means of conveyance was taken away, and women and 
children were compelled to make the long journey to their 
new home on foot, and often without shoes. 

Elated by the British successes in Georgia, General 
Chnton sailed southward with a large fleet to gain posses- 
sion of South Carolina. Charleston fell into his hands in 
May, 1780, and before long the state was filled with Brit- 
ish soldiers. This was a heavy blow to the Americans. 
A British force was sent to occupy Augusta, in order to 
keep the patriots in that region in subjection. Two Tory 
officers, Colonels Brown and Grierson, were put in com- 
mand. A worse selection could not have been made : both 
were notorious for their cruel treatment of men, women, 
and children. 

69 



yo THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

In the early days of the Revohition, Brown was Hving 
m Augusta. He would not join the Liberty Boys, but 
remained loyal to the king. Some remarks which he 
made offended the patriots, and, to punish him, an angry 
mob collected, tarred and feathered him, and carried him 
through the streets in a cart drawn by three mules. He 
vowed to avenge this insult on every American citizen, 
and he fulfilled this vow to the uttermost when the com- 
mand in Augusta was given to him. His murderous bands 
made their raids in every direction. Georgia was to be 
forced into submission by fire and sword ; no mercy was 
to be shown to any one who gave assistance to a patriot. 
One of these bands entered the house of the brave soldier 
Colonel John Dooley, and tried to force him to swear 
allegiance to the king. When he refused, they killed him 
in the presence of his wife and children. 

It seems that these long-continued atrocities would have 
crushed every idea of resistance in the hearts of the people 
of Georgia. But when Colonel Elijah Clarke returned from 
North Carolina, where he had been fighting, five hundred 
men joined him in an attempt to take Augusta from the 
enemy. Just when the British were about to surrender, 
reenforcements came to them, and the Americans were 
obhged to retreat. 

Colonel Brown received a wound which confined him to 
his room. He gave orders that some of the prison- 
ers who fell into his hands should be hanged on the stair- 
case just outside his door, where he could witness their 
sufferings. Others he gave up to the Indians, who tor- 
tured them to death. 

In December, 1780, General Nathaniel Greene took 
command of the American army in the South. That was 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION J\ 

a sad winter. The army was poorly organized and in utter 
want. As Congress had no money with which to pay the 
soldiers, they were without food or clothes. Patriotism 
was sorely tried. But General Greene reorganized the 
army and in the spring began a brilliant campaign which 
resulted favorably for the Americans. 

General Greene's success revived the drooping spirits of 
the patriots in north Georgia. Numbers who had been 




Colonel Henry Lee, 

fighting for their country, in other states, now returned. 
They came in small groups, to avoid attracting the atten- 
tion of the British. What a sad home-coming that was ! 
Everything was in ruins ; many loved ones had been 
cruelly murdered ; others were confined in foul prisons. 
Those who were left were living in rude huts and eking 
out a bare existence. 

In May, ip^Si, General Greene sent General Pickens and 



72 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Colonel Henry Lee, the father of our beloved Robert E. 
Lee, to make another effort to capture Augusta. Colonel 
Lee was called Light Horse Harry, because he was the 
leader of a band of fast riders known as the Light Horse 
Legion. He first captured Fort Galphin, about twelve 
miles below Augusta. Here he secured a store of valua- 
ble supplies, such as arms, ammunition, salt, and blankets, 
which were sorely needed in the American army. He 
then hastened on with his forces to join General Pickens 
and Colonel Elijah Clarke near Augusta. 

Colonels Brown and Grierson had taken refuge in the 
two forts which guarded the city. Fort Grierson was soon 
captured, and its commander. Colonel Grierson, was shot 
for his inhuman treatment of the patriots who had fallen 
into his hands. Fort Cornwallis held out for sixteen days ; 
but at the end of that time Colonel Brown was obliged to 
surrender. He was so much hated by the patriots that he 
had to be placed under a strong guard for protection and 
sent to Savannah. General Pickens and Colonel Lee, 
having accomphshed their object, left Major James Jack- 
son in command at Augusta and took their men back to 
South Carolina. 

The capture of Augusta brought hope to the heart of 
every patriot. Savannah was now the only important 
place in Georgia held by the British. The American army 
in the state was under the command of General John 
Twiggs and Major James Jackson. The force was strong 
enough to keep the enemy near the seacoast. Encouraged 
by the hope of protection, many more citizens returned to 
the state. 

On the nineteenth of October, 1781, a great battle was 
fought at Yorktown, Virginia. The American army under 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 73 

General George Washington was victorious, and Lord 
Cornwallis, the British commander, was forced to surrender 
his entire army of seven thousand men. The joyful news 
spread throughout the entire land. Success was now as- 
sured to the patriots. England stopped sending troops to 
America, though nearly two years passed before the 
country was entirely rid of the enemy. 




General Anthony Wayne. 

In January, 1782, General Anthony Wayne was sent to 
the relief of Georgia. General Wayne had distinguished 
himself throughout the war in the North and was called 
Mad Anthony Wayne on account of his daring. He kept 
such a close watch on the British that their plundering 
parties seldom ventured out of Savannah. The region 
around Savannah had been so devastated by the British 
that General Wayne found it very difficult to supply his 
army with food. The soldiers were ragged and barefooted, 
but the example of their cheerful leader inspired them to 
continue faithful to their duties. 

In May, 1782, the British received orders from the king 



74 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

to surrender Savannah and return to England. The 
British troops evacuated Savannah on July the twenty-first. 
That afternoon General Wayne entered with his troops and 
took possession of the city. Three and a half years had 
passed since the patriots were expelled from Savannah. 

At last Georgia was free from the hated British soldiers. 
Not a single person acknowledging allegiance to the king 
remained on Georgia soil. The people gradually returned 
to their homes and former occupations. But the state was 
in a deplorable condition. Property of every kind had 
been swept away ; the fields were uncultivated ; there was 
no food and no money. But the patriots, rejoicing in 
their independence, did not sit down and brood over their 
troubles. They set about repairing their shattered fortunes, 
looking forward to better and happier days. 

The legislature made grants of land to soldiers who had 
served the state during the war. In this way many set- 
tlers from other states were attracted into Georgia. Gen- 
erals Greene and Wayne were each presented with a large 
plantation, and became citizens of the state. Count d'Es- 
taing was granted twenty thousand acres of land. Thus 
did Georgia endeavor to show her appreciation of those 
who had helped her in her hour of need. 



CHAPTER XXII 
SOME REVOLUTIONARY CHARACTERS 

General James Jackson came from England, a penni- 
less boy of fifteen, and made his home in Savannah. He 
began the study of law, but when the troubles arose be- 
tween the colonies and England, he put aside everything 
to join the Liberty Boys. He became one of their most 
earnest workers, and his devotion to the state will ever be 
gratefully remembered by Georgia people. 

After the British took Savannah, in 1778, James Jack- 
son and John Milledge went to South CaroHna, where they 
joined the forces of General Moultrie. They were ragged 
and barefooted, and excited the suspicion of some Ameri- 
can soldiers, who arrested them as British spies. Some 
one recognized the two men just in time to prevent their 
being hanged. Both of these men fought all through the 
war, and both, in time, became governors of Georgia. 

General Jackson had a share in the siege of Savannah. 
He afterward distinguished himself in North and South 
Carolina, when those two states were overrun by the Brit- 
ish. During the siege of Augusta, in 1781, the Carolina 
and Georgia troops became worn out with waiting for the 
reenforcements which were daily expected under General 
Pickens and Light Horse Harry Lee. As the weary days 
passed and no help came, hope died in their anxious hearts, 
and the men were about to return to their homes. General 

75 



J6 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Jackson rode among the exhausted soldiers, speaking en- 
couraging words. His own zeal inspired them with hope, 
and when relief came at last, these men were among the 
first to make the attack under their gallant leader. When 
Augusta was taken. General Jackson was left in command 
there. The British were forced to give up Ebenezer, also, 
and move nearer Savannah. 

General Jackson took up his station between Savannah 
and Augusta, where he might keep a ceaseless watch upon 




General James )ackson. 

the enemy. Some discontented members of his company 
who were jealous of their leader formed a conspiracy to 
kill him. But a friendly soldier, suspecting that evil was 
afoot, pretended that he, too, hated his commander. As 
soon as he was admitted into the secret, he disclosed the 
plot, and the leaders of the conspiracy were put to death. 
When the war was ended, the state legislature gave this 
faithful soldier a horse, saddle, and bridle, and five hundred 
acres of land, as a reward for his noble service. 

One of the proudest moments of General Jackson's life 



SOME REVOLUTIONARY CHARACTERS TJ 

came just after the surrender of Savannah, when General 
Anthony Wayne selected him to receive the keys of the 
city. This honor was granted him on account of his brave 
conduct, and the once penniless boy rode in state into th-e 
recovered capital. 

General Jackson held nearly every high office which a 
grateful and loving people could bestow upon him. His 
upright character was always opposed to fraud. He 
thought that men should so live that they would not be 
ashamed to let the whole world know of their slightest 
acts. The stand that he took in the famous Yazoo Fraud 
case made him the idol of the people. 

General Jackson was representing his state in Washing- 
ton, as United States senator, when he died in March, 
1806. In his last moments his thoughts turned to his 
beloved state. He said : " If after death my heart can 
be opened, there will be found written on it the word 
'Georgia.'" His body rests in the burying-ground of 
Congress. On his tomb these words are written : '' To 
the memory of General James Jackson, of Georgia, who 
deserved and enjoyed the confidence of a grateful country 
— a soldier of the Revolution." 

Another of the conspicuous figures of the Revolution 
in Georgia was General Elijah Clarke, who was born in 
North Carolina and came to Georgia in 1774, when nearly 
forty years old. He settled in Wilkes County, and was 
among the first to take up arms when the war broke out. 

General Clarke was uneducated, but he knew how to 
manage men. He became the leader of a regiment 
raised in north Georgia, which kept the Tories in constant 
fear. A fearless fighter, he went promptly wherever he 



78 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

was needed. It was General Clarke's regiment that kept 
back the Tories and Indians on the frontier. He annoyed 
the enemy at every opportunity, and protected the patri- 
ots from the plundering bands which roamed through the 
country. While he was thus engaged, the Tories burned 
his home and drove his wife and children from the state. 

We hear of this tireless leader in Florida, and in the 
two Carolinas. His foresight and bravery won the day 
at Kettle Creek. After the siege of Augusta, General 
Clarke disbanded his men, that they might visit their 
homes. When they met again the following September, 
four hundred women and children begged him to take 
them to a place of safety. For eleven days he and his 
company guarded the weary travelers, and at last found 
a refuge for them among the friendly people of Kentucky. 

General Clarke was wounded many times. Each time, 
upon his recovery, he took up his untiring work again, 
and for seven long years his name spread terror among the 
redcoats, as the British soldiers were called. At the end 
of the war the legislature granted him a plantation for his 
noble services in behalf of the state. 

Many stories are told of Nancy Hart, a remarkable 
woman who lived in Elbert County in Revolutionary days. 
She was nearly six feet tall, ugly, rough, and uneducated. 
She had a fiery temper, and the strength of a man, so 
that the Tories stood in great fear of her. The Liberty 
Boys called her Aunt Nancy. She hated all the king's 
soldiers, and took every opportunity to outwit them. But 
she loved and befriended the Liberty Boys, and would 
take great risks to save any of them from the British. 
She cheerfully divided her small stock of provisions with 



SOME REVOLUTIONARY CHARACTERS 79 

a hungry patriot ; but woe to the British soldier who fell 
into her hands ! If she pretended to be friendly, it was 
only that she might be able to divert his attention until her 
friends could come and carry him off captive to some 
American camp. 

When many of the women and children in her neighbor- 
hood left their homes to escape the cruelties of Colonel 
Brown and his lawless bands, Nancy Hart refused to ac- 
company them, and remained to protect the little property 
that was left to her. She was always on the lookout for 
Brown's raiders, and whenever she saw a British redcoat, 
she began planning how to get the best of him. 

A conch shell was kept at the spring near her house, to 
give warning to her husband and his patriot friends that 
the redcoats were near, and to tell them whether to come 
to her assistance or to stay in hiding. One day a party 
of five Tories rode up to Nancy's log cabin and asked for 
something to eat. She said that she had nothing except 
an old gobbler, and besides she didn't want to feed Tories. 
This answer made them angry. One of the Tories shot 
the gobbler and ordered her to cook it. She stormed and 
scolded for a while, then picked up the turkey and went 
about preparing it, apparently in good humor. The 
Tories stacked their guns and sat down to rest and talk. 
Nancy talked and laughed at their jokes while she cooked 
the meal. She sent her daughter to the spring and signed 
to her to blow the conch, as a signal of the enemy's 
presence. 

While she served the meal, this clever woman managed 
to keep the Tories interested. She had purposely used 
up all her supply of water in cooking, and when her guests 
called for some to drink, she had to send again to the 



8o THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

spring. This time her daughter was instructed to signal 
for help to come immediately. While the Tories were 
eating and talking, Nancy slipped two of their muskets 
through a crack between the logs without being seen. 
But suddenly they found out what she was about. They 
sprang up and rushed toward her; but the bold woman 
pointed the musket which she held in her hands toward 
them and said she would shoot the first man who came a 
step nearer. 

This was an awkward position for the intruders. Five 
British soldiers kept at bay by one woman ! Finally one 
soldier gathered up the courage to step forward. Nancy, 
true to her word, shot him down and seized another mus- 
ket. A second Tory was treated in the same manner. 
The daughter, who had returned from the spring, handed 
her mother another musket. The remaining Tories dared 
not move. Forced to surrender, they now wished to make 
friends with her. But Nancy stood in the doorway ready 
to fire again if they advanced. At last the patriots came 
to her help, and the other three Tories were taken out and 
hanged. 

Nancy's large family of sons and daughters used to have 
merry times crowded around the big open fire on cool 
evenings. Their mother often told them of her daring 
adventures, and, in their enjoyment of the stories, they 
forgot the dangers that were always near. On such an 
evening, one of the children discovered an eavesdropper 
peeping through a crack in the stick chimney. He caught 
his mother's attention and signed to her that some one was 
listening to their talk. Nancy was vigorously stirring a 
pot of soap that was boiUng on the fire. She kept on with 
her work, laughing and talking all the time. Suddenly 



SOME REVOLUTIONARY CHARACTERS 8 1 

she dashed some of the boiUng soap through the crack in 
the chimney. The howls of grief and rage which followed 
told her that her aim had been true, and one more Tory 
had received a severe punishment. This courageous woman 
went out and bound him, and kept him prisoner until she 
could hand him over to some of her patriot friends. 

There lived in Liberty County a famous patriot by the 
name of Robert Sallette. Very little is known of him 
except that he roved about the country and that he lost 
no chance of striking a blow at the British. He was 
dreaded by the Tories. One of them, wishing to get 
rid of so formidable a foe, offered a reward of one hun- 
dred guineas to any one who would bring him the head of 
Robert Sallette. When Sallette heard that he was thought 
to be worth so much, he determined to have the money 
himself. He disguised himself, placed a pumpkin in a 
bag, and went to the Tory's house. He told the Tory 
that he had brought him the head of Robert Sallette and 
wanted the reward. As he spoke, he shook the bag, which 
he had put down on the floor, so that the pumpkin struck 
the boards with a thump. The Tory, believing what his 
visitor said, counted out the money and laid it on the table. 
He asked Sallette to show him the head, and you may 
imagine his dismay when Sallette took off his hat, tapped 
his forehead, and said, ** Here is the head of Robert Sal- 
lette ! " The Tory did not wait for a second look, but 
dashed from the room. Sallette pocketed the guineas and 
went away, highly pleased with his success. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

GEORGIA AS A STATE 

When Georgia threw off the royal yoke in 1776, she 
became a state, but her form of government was only a 
temporary one. A convention met in Savannah in 1777 
and established a permanent government. A written con- 
stitution was adopted and a new seal. The convention 
aboHshed the twelve parishes and divided the state into 
eight counties, — Wilkes, Richmond, Burke, Effingham, 
Chatham, Liberty, Glynn, and Camden. Liberty County 
was so named as a tribute to the patriotic citizens of St. 
John's Parish. The other counties were named for seven 
English statesmen who had nobly befriended the colonies 
in their struggle to obtain their rights. 

It was the duty of the legislature to elect the governor, 
who was to serve for one year. The first legislature of the 
state met in Savannah on May 8, 1777. John Adam 
Treutlen was the first governor. The council of safety 
was dissolved and an executive council elected. 

When Savannah fell into the hands of the British, in 
1778, the governor and council moved to Augusta. The 
British soon followed, and the state officers fled to South 
Carolina. During all the war the state government was 
in a disordered condition. The legislature met when and 
where it could. At one time Georgia was divided into 
opposing parties, and there were two governors. At other 
times the state had no chief executive. Governor Wright 

82 



GEORGIA AS A STATE 



33 



had returned after the defeat of the Americans at Savan- 
nah. So Georgia was ruled partly by a royal governor, 




Map of the First Eight Counties. 



partly by a state governor, and at times by the executive 
council. When the British left Savannah in 1782, that 
city again became the seat of government. The legisla- 
ture of 1783 elected Dr. Lyman Hall governor. 



84 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Georgia was the fourth state to adopt the Constitution of 
the United States, January 2, 1788. The first two United 
States senators from Georgia were James Gunn and 
William Few. The first representatives were Abram 
Baldwin, James Jackson, and George Matthews. As it 
was necessary to make some changes in the state consti- 
tution, a convention met and adopted the constitution of 
1789. This provided that the governor should be elected 
to serve two years instead of one. The executive council 
was abolished, and our present senate was established. 
On November 26, 1789, the people of Georgia observed 
the first national Thanksgiving Day. 

In 1798 the constitution was again changed. The new 
one lasted until 1861, although it was amended in 1824, so 
that the governor might be elected directly by the people. 
Our present constitution was adopted in 1877. In 1799 a 
new seal was made, which is the one still in use. The 
seal bears on one side the Georgia coat of arms, consisting 
of three pillars supporting an arch on which is engraved 
the word " Constitution." This design signifies that the 
constitution of the state is upheld by the three depart- 
ments of the government, — legislative, executive, and ju- 
dicial. The words engraved on the streamer entwined 
around the pillars indicate that wisdom should be shown 
by the legislature in making the laws; moderation, by the 
executive officers in administering the laws ; and justice, 
by the courts in their decisions. The figure of the man 
with the drawn sword represents the strong military 
power of the state. 

On the other side of the seal there appears a boat 
which has brought down produce from the interior of the 
state. On the shore a man is plowing, and a flock of 



GEORGIA AS A STATE 85 

sheep is grazing in the distance. A ship loaded with the 
produce of Georgia soil, and carrying the flag of the United 
States, seems ready to sail. Under that sacred- banner, 
she can ride unharmed on the waters throughout the 
entire world. This side of the seal represents the two 
most important industries of the state, — agriculture and 
commerce. 




Obverse. Reverse. 

Georgia State Seal, 1799. 

The first Georgia flag was adopted in 1789. It was 
slightly changed in 1902, during Governor Candler's ad- 
ministration. Finding that some of the state troops were 
parading under the United States flag alone, the legislature 
of 1902 made a law that they should thereafter use the 
state flag also. 

The Georgia flag has a vertical band of blue next 
the staff, occupying one third of the entire flag. The 
remainder of the space is divided into three horizontal 
bands ; the upper and lower bands are scarlet, while the 
one in the center is white. On the blue field next to the 
staff is stamped, painted, or embroidered the Georgia coat 



86 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

of arms. The old flag was similar to this, except that the 
coat of arms did not appear. 

Georgia has had five capitals. After the state began 
to grow, Savannah became unsatisfactory as the capital, 
because it could not be conveniently reached by the peo- 
ple in the newly settled lands. As the population spread 
toward the west, the capital was several times moved in 
that direction. In 1786, Augusta was made the capital; in 
1795, Louisville in Jefferson County, on the Ogeechee 
River; in 1807, Milledgeville, so named in honor of John 
Milledge, then governor of the state. Finally, in 1868, 
the seat of government was moved to Atlanta. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE YAZOO FRAUD 

When a man makes a mistake, he shows wisdom by has- 
tening to repair it. This is what our fathers did in connec- 
tion with the famous Yazoo Fraud. 

When the war of the Revolution ended in 1783, the 
land belonging to the state of Georgia extended westward 
as far as the Mississippi River. Speculators saw how valu- 
able this wild land was, and formed companies to buy it 
from the legislature. In 1794, land was sold to these 
companies at a very low price, about two cents an acre. 
The legislature had no right to sell the state's property for 
so little ; but the members were either bribed or frightened 
by the agents of the companies, so that they did what they 
knew was wrong. Governor George Matthews at first 
refused to sign the bill, but was finally persuaded to do so. 

When the people learned about the sale, they were very 
angry. James Jackson, who was then senator from Georgia 
at Washington, resigned his high position and came home 
to try to have the unjust law repealed. He was elected to 
the new legislature of Georgia, which met at Louisville in 
January, 1796, and began at once to work for the repeal of 
the law. The whole state was aroused and angry. People 
everywhere held indignation meetings and sent petitions 
to the legislature. 

In a few days the law was declared void. The legisla- 
ture thought it such a disgrace that the law had been 

87 



88 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

passed that they decided to burn all the papers relating to 
the shameful sale. They gathered in the pubhc square, 
where a pile of wood had been prepared. In order that the 
disgraceful records might be burned with fire from heaven, 
the flames were kindled by the rays of the sun, through an 
old-fashioned sunglass. The secretary of state brought 
out the papers, which he handed to the president of the 
Senate. After examining them, the president handed them 
to the speaker of the House of Representatives. They 
were then passed to the clerk and the messenger. This 
last officer laid them upon the fire, crying in a loud voice, 
" God save the state ! and long preserve her rights ! and 
may every attempt to injure them perish as these wicked 
and corrupt acts now do ! " 

Thus did our fathers wipe out the record of a shameful 
act and show that they were trying to protect the rights of 
the people. 



CHAPTER XXV 

THE DEPARTURE OF THE INDIANS 

It is always a difficult matter for two races, possessing 
different customs, traditions, and feelings, to live together 
in the same country. If all the white men had been as 
kind and considerate as Oglethorpe, and all the Indians as 
wise as Tomochichi, there would have been no trouble. 
But some white men cheated the Indians, and some 
Indians killed the white men, and both sides were treach- 
erous and false in their dealings. This unfair dealing 
began almost with the time of Oglethorpe, and grew 
worse as the years passed. 

In the war of the Revolution the British kept the 
friendship of the Indians by fair talk and presents. There- 
fore, in addition to their other troubles, the patriots suf- 
fered from Indian attacks, the burning of their houses, 
and the capture of their wives and children. When the 
long war was over, the Indians were divided in feeling; 
some remained hostile to the government of the United 
States, while some became friendly. 

The earlier grants of the territory of Georgia extended 
west to the Mississippi River, embracing the present states 
of Alabama and Mississippi. In 1802 Georgia ceded all 
her land west of her present boundaries to the United 
States. The national government promised, in return, 
to remove all the Indians from Georgia to the country 
west of the Mississippi River, and to give the land which 

89 



90 THE STORY OP^ GEORGIA 

they had occupied to the white settlers ; for by this tinie 
ahiiost everybody had become convinced that white men 
and Indians could not live in the same region. 

When crimes were committed on the Indians' land, the 
state of Georgia punished them, and this made the Indians 
angry. They did not wish to be ruled by the laws of 
Georgia. They continued to attack the white settlements, 
and affairs grew worse from year to year. The United 
States government neglected to fulfill its agreement to 
move the Indians out of Georgia. The hostility of the 
Indians was made worse through the influence of a few 
bad white men who had settled among them and inflamed 
their feehngs against the state of Georgia. 

At this time England and France were at war. Much 
of the fighting was done at sea, and each country claimed 
the right to seize vessels trading with the other. But when 
English ships seized several American vessels and carried 
off their seamen, the United States declared war, and 
once more we were involved in trouble with the mother 
country. This was called the War of 1812. The Indians 
were aroused and again sided with the British, giving 
Georgia much trouble. Attacks were so frequent from 
the Seminoles on the south and the Creeks on the west 
that Governor Mitchell was compelled to call out the 
militia to protect the state. 

On the thirtieth of August, at noonday, the Indians at- 
tacked Fort Mills on the Chattahoochee. The inmates 
were completely surprised, and nearly three hundred, in- 
cluding women and children, were massacred. This bloody 
deed was avenged by an attack on the Indian towns of 
Autossee and Tallassee, at daybreak on the twenty-ninth of 
November, 181 3, when two hundred Indians were killed. 



THE DEPARTURE OF THE INDIANS QI 

The next year peace was declared between the United 
States and England, and the Indians were more quiet. 
But the feeling of hostility against the whites remained, and 
the wise men of both races were eager for a separation. 

Among the Creeks were some Indians who were friendly 
to the white men. Their leader was a half-breed named 
William Mcintosh. He was tall and handsome, and had 
acquired fine manners from mingling with the Southern 
officers. He kept a house on the Chattahoochee River 
where travelers passing through the Indian nation stopped 
for rest and refreshment. His followers, the Lower 
Creeks, wished to leave their lands in Georgia and go far 
away to a country where they would not be molested by 
the white men. The Upper Creeks, on the other hand, 
declared that they would never leave the beautiful land of 
their forefathers. 

In the month of February, 1825, a meeting of the Indians 
and the United States Commissioners was held at Indian 
Spring. A noted chieftain of the Upper Creeks, Hopoth- 
leyoholo, was present, and exerted all his influence to pre- 
vent the signing of a treaty. He and his party went home 
on the night of the eleventh, and on the next day the treaty 
was signed by Mcintosh and his company. The agreement 
was that the government should move the Indians far away 
to the west, where white people could not interfere with 
them, and should also pay them for the lands they left. 

A great deal of trouble arose regarding this treaty. The 
governor of Georgia, George M. Troup, insisted on survey- 
ing the Indian lands at once, while the President at Wash- 
ington forbade it, so that there was a conflict of authority. 
Governor Troup contended for the rights of the state of 
Georgia, and the President maintained the power of the 



92 



THE STORY OF GEORGIA 



central government, until people began to fear a war. But 
the matter was adjusted, the Indians were taken west, and 
the lands were surveyed in 1827 and afterward divided by 
lottery. 




Governor George M. Troup. 



One sad result of the treaty of Indian Spring was the 
death of brave William Mcintosh. He knew that he was 
in danger, and went to Milledgeville, which was then the 
capital of Georgia, to ask for protection from the state. 
It was promised to him, but never given. The Upper 
Creeks held a secret council and decided to put him to 
death. One hundred and seventy of the bravest warriors 
were selected, who marched cautiously to Mcintosh's 
neighborhood and waited for the darkness of night. About 
three o'clock in the morning they surprised the sleeping 
family, set the house on fire, and danced around the burning 
building, shrieking: "Mcintosh, we have come! we have 
come! We told you if you sold the land to the Georgians 
we would come ! Now we have come ! " 



THE DEPARTURE OF THE INDIANS 93 

Mcintosh kept firing at his enemies until he fell, riddled 
with bullets. One of his friends, Toma Tustenuggee, was 
killed at the beginning of the attack. Chilly Mcintosh, 
his son, escaped by jumping from a window and swimming 
the Chattahoochee River. The Indians dragged Mcin- 
tosh's body from the burning house, and stabbed him to 
the heart, in the presence of his two wives. They also 
killed his son-in-law, Hawkins. They took off the scalps 
of their victims in the cruel Indian fashion, and on their 
return to their village exposed them on a pole, while young 
and old danced around them in savage joy. 

But this bloody deed did not prevent the thing the Upper 
Creeks feared. The treaty had been signed, the lands were 
sold, and the Indians were obhged to leave their dearly 
loved hills and streams in Georgia for a distant home be- 
yond the Mississippi. 

It was several years later before the Cherokees of North 
Georgia could be persuaded to take the same step. In 
1838, after much talk, the families of the Cherokees were 
collected into camps, preparatory to their long march west- 
ward. About fourteen thousand commenced the journey. 
Every possible arrangement was made for their comfort 
on the march, but, so great was their sorrow at leaving 
their beloved land, that four thousand died of broken 
hearts before they reached their western home. 

Of all the Indian tribes, the Cherokees have prospered 
most. They have established schools, have a government 
of their own, and are more civilized than their brethren. 
Doubtless it was hard for them to leave this beautiful land 
which once was theirs, but they are happier now than they 
ever could have been here where selfish and unscrupulous 
white men continually annoyed them. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE MEXICAN WAR 

Texas was for a long time a part of the republic of 
Mexico. It was settled by people from the United States, 
who wished to have the privilege of governing themselves. 
They were not like the Mexicans, who were principally of 
Spanish descent. So when Santa Anna, the president of 
Mexico, refused to allow the immigrants self-government, 
the settlers rebelled against the Mexican government and 
declared themselves independent. A company of soldiers, 
under Colonel William Ward of Macon, went out from 
Georgia to help the Texans. 

When the soldiers were leaving Georgia, a flag was 
presented to them, made of white silk, and bearing on one 
side a blue star and the inscription, " Liberty or Death." 
The company called it the " Flag of the Lone Star." 
When Texas gained her independence she adopted this 
flag, and for that reason is still called the Lone Star state. 

The men who started so gallantly to follow the Flag of 
the Lone Star met a very sad fate. The Mexicans sur- 
rounded Colonel Ward and forced him to surrender. He 
did so on condition that he and his men should be seut 
back to the United States. They were taken to Fort 
Goliad, where Colonel Fannin and a regiment of United 
States soldiers were already confined. The next morning 
they were marched out into the sunlight. Being prisoners, 
they had no guns. They were ranged in line, and shot 

94 



THE MEXICAN WAR 95 

down by the Mexicans. That was the tragic end of the 
Georgians who followed the Lone Star. 

Several years later, when Texas had freed herself from 
Mexico and had been annexed to the United States, a 
dispute arose about the boundary line, which at length 
caused a war between the United States and Mexico. The 
government at Washington called on Georgia to furnish a 
regiment of soldiers, and the state promptly responded. 
The first regiment was sent out under Colonel Henry R. 
Jackson of Savannah, and other companies followed. The 
men fought bravely, and many of them were killed. Com- 
modore Josiah Tattnall of Georgia commanded a fleet called 
the " Mosquito Division," because it was small, active, and 
annoying, like a mosquito. On his return to Georgia the 
legislature voted Tattnall a beautiful sword for his gallant 
services. The same compliment was paid to General W. 
H. T. Walker, Lieutenant William M. Gardiner, and Gen- 
eral David E. Twiggs. 

The Mexican War was ended by a treaty of peace in 
February, 1848. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE THREE SECTIONS 

If you could rise with the wings of a bird, and, starting 
from the border Hne where Georgia joins Tennessee and 
North CaroHna, fly southward to the coast, you would see 
that our state does not have the same appearance through- 
out its whole extent. In the north stand the tall moun- 
tains, with wooded valleys between. All the country is 
rugged and broken, the scenery is wild and beautiful, and 
the homes of the people are small and far apart. Next 
you would pass over a country of long, rolling hills, covered 
with a magnificent forest growth of oak, pine, chestnut, 
and hickory. Here the towns are larger, and more busi- 
ness is transacted. It is a country of prosperous farms, 
large mills, and flourishing settlements. Farther south 
you would reach the level pine lands and the coast region 
where sea-island cotton and rice are cultivated. 

Our state is thus naturally divided into three sections, — 
the mountains, the hills, and the plains. These three sec- 
tions were settled in the long peaceful years before the 
terrible Civil War. The difference in the face of the coun- 
try made a difference in the lives and habits of the people, 
so that the mountaineer was as unlike the dweller on the 
coast as if they belonged to two separate nations. 

Among the mountains, where the land was poor and 
rocky and the roads rough, there was a class of people 
scattered in httle inaccessible houses, far from each other. 

96 



THE THREE SECTIONS 



97 



The dwellings were log cabins, each furnished with beds, a 
table, a few split-bottomed chairs, a churn, and a frying 
pan. These people had few schools and churches, and 
were consequently ignorant of books ; but their Hfe in the 
open air and freedom from restraint gave them a sturdy 
strength of character that we may well envy them. Their 
clothing was of the poorest, and even the women ordinarily 
went barefooted. They had a dialect of their own, which 
strangers found hard to understand. In this same section 
were many resi- 
dences built by 
people of wealth 
and refinement, 
some of whom 
spent their win- 
ters in Charles- 
ton, Savannah, 
or New Orleans. 
This section was 
then, as now, 

called North Georgia. From its homes have come some 
of the strongest men of our state. 

Middle Georgia embraces the greater part of the state. 
It was settled by emigrants from Virginia and the Caro- 
linas, a sturdy, self-reliant race, who came poor into this 
land of plenty, founded their homes in the wilderness, 
and throve on account of their energy and pluck. They 
established towns and villages, became slave owners, built 
railroads, and prospered until the war swept all of their 
property away. They founded many schools, the most 
noted being Franklin College, Emory, Mercer, and Wes- 
leyan, the oldest woman's college in the world. Cotton 




An Early Home in Middle Geur(;l\. 



98 



THE STORY OF GEORGIA 



raising was the prominent industry. They were a hospita- 
ble, Hght-hearted people. Plenty flourished in their land, 
and hfe in middle Georgia was pleasant before the war. 

In the flat lands near the coast lay the large plantations 
on which sea-island cotton and rice were raised. As white 
men could not endure the deadly malaria of these lowlands 
all the year, the necessary labor was performed by hun- 




A Home in Southern Georgia. 



dreds of negro slaves. The families of the planters lived 
part of the time on the farms and the remainder of the year 
in such towns as Savannah and Darien. Most of the land- 
owners were immensely wealthy ; their hospitality was 
lavish and their manners princely. The mild cHmate and 
freedom from the necessity of labor made life easy ; the 
days were spent in a succession of picnics and entertain- 
ments. These people spoke the soft, low-country dialect 
which falls so musically upon the ear. They sent their 



THE THREE SECTIONS 99 

sons north to be educated, and thought themselves superior 
to all those who Hved farther north in their own state. 

Back of the coast the plains extend into the south- 
western part of the state. This also was a country of large 
plantations and many slaves. There was much culture and 
refinement among the people, and this section of the state 
produced many prominent men. 




Dining Room in the Home of a Wealthy Planter. 

All over the state was scattered a class of people called 
Crackers. This name is supposed to have been given to 
them because their principal article of diet was cracked 
corn. They were idle and shiftless, extremely poor, and 
yet strictly honest. They possessed no slaves, and seldom 
owned the land on which their little cabins stood. In the 
midst of wealth and plenty they lived in careless poverty, 
and dreaded nothing so much as work. 

This was the condition of our state before 1861, when 
the great war came to ruin these peaceful homes, leaving 
desolation and poverty in place of comfort and plenty. 

L.ofC. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

SLAVERY 

When the colony of Georgia was first established, no 
negro slaves were allowed. It was to be a community of 
free white men. But the colony did not prosper under 
the administration of the trustees. The culture of rice 
and cotton required more endurance than white men pos- 
sessed, and as the neighboring colony of South Carolina, 
where the people had slaves, grew rich and prosperous, 
the Georgia settlers became discontented. They sent a 
petition to the trustees, asking to be allowed to own 
slaves, and finally the trustees, beheving that negro labor 
was needed to develop the country, granted the petition in 
1750. From this time the colony began to prosper. The 
cotton and rice plantations along the coast were tilled by 
the negroes, who could toil without injury in the burning 
sun and could resist the malaria of the swamps. Sometimes 
one master owned several hundred slaves. The plantations 
in Middle Georgia were not so large as those on the coast, 
and consequently fewer slaves belonged to each owner. 
Among the mountains of North Georgia there were no 
slaves at all. 

With the exception of the house servants, the slaves 
lived in a row of cabins called the quarters, several hun- 
dred yards from the planter's house. On the large farms 
a white man, called the overseer, was engaged to super- 



SLAVERY lOI 

intend the work of the field hands. In the morning 
each hand was given a certain amount of woric to do, 
called his task. When this was finished, he could work in 
his own little patch of ground, and all the money he made 
in this way was his own. In the evenings the quarters 
resounded with the music of the banjo and quills, and the 
sound of laughter and merriment. The white children 
thought it a great privilege to be allowed to visit the 
quarters and witness the frolics that went on there. 

The slaves were strongly attached to the children of their 
masters. The old nurse, usually called Mammy, was ten- 
derly loved by the little ones she had reared. She wore a 
large white apron and a bandanna handkerchief twisted 
around her head like a turban. Each little boy, when he 
grew too old to be nursed, had a body servant given to 
him. This was a negro boy, whose duty it was to follow 
him everywhere, wait on him, and take care of him. To- 
gether they went rabbit hunting, fishing, and swimming. 
In the same way, each little girl had her own maid, v/hose 
duty it v/as to help dress her, to be her playmate and pro- 
tector, and to be ready to come and go at her will. In the 
cruel war which followed these happy times, many of the 
negro servants followed their young masters through all 
the hardships of army life ; and sometimes it was the lot of 
the faithful slave to bring back the Kfeless body of his dearly 
loved master from the field of death to the mourners 
waiting at the old home. 

The great time of the year on the plantation was Christ- 
mas. Then the negroes came early in the gray dawn of 
the morning to catch the white folks' " Christmas gift ! " 
Each servant received a present from the master and mis- 
tress, and a week of feasting and merriment followed. 



102 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

The boys, white and black, spent nearly the whole week 
m hunting. 

Almost equal to Christmas was hog-kiUing time. When 
the first cold weather came, the fattened porkers were slain, 
scalded in great vats of heated water, and cut up into vari- 
ous parts for present feasting or future supplies. Sausage 
meat, haslet, spareribs, backbone, crackling bread, and 
other good things loaded the table day after day. The 
hams, shoulders, and sides of bacon were hung in a smoke 
house, where they were slowly cured in a constant smoke 
from a smoldering fire. Provisions were laid up for the 
household for a whole year. 

Another happy time was what was called a " corn shuck- 
ing." The slaves from several adjoining plantations used 
to meet at the corncribs of one neighbor, divide themselves 
into two companies, and race to see which band could shuck 
the larger pile of corn. They accompanied their work with 
hearty songs. The owner of the strongest voice improvised 
a solo, and at the end of every line the chorus came in, 
shouting some such words as *' Bally-melango! " or "Win- 
ter time ! winter time ! " When the work was finished, the 
fiddle was brought out, and dancing and feasting ended the 
evening. 

The slaves were sometimes cruelly treated, but not 
often. As a rule, masters took good care of their servants, 
fed and clothed them comfortably, nursed them when ill, 
and required no more work from them than they could 
easily do. The mistress gathered the little negroes around 
her on Sunday afternoons, and taught them the truths of 
the Scriptures. In every church a place was set aside 
for the negroes. They had their own churches, too, where 
they sang their wild, beautiful songs and got happy, as 



SLAVERY 103 

they called it, when they fainted away from too much reli- 
gious emotion. They were a music-loving race, and every- 
where, in the field and on the river, at the church and in 
the corn shucking, they sang with all their might the weird 
melodies they loved so well. 

It is a good thing that there are no slaves now ; but it 
is a pity that the white race and the black race do not love 
each other as they did in that old time before the war. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR 

At the end of the War of the Revokition there were 
slaves in all of the thirteen states. But in the North their 
labor was not profitable and the climate was not suited to 
them ; so they were gradually set free or sold to the South. 
On the other hand, the cotton fields of the South gave 
work to thousands of negro laborers, who throve well in 
the mild Southern climate. Thus it came about in time 
that there were no slaves at the North and many at the 
South. 

The Northern people believed that slavery was wrong, 
and determined that the slaves should all be set free. The 
Southern people did not think that it was wrong, and 
when they found that the people of the North were going 
to take their property from them, eleven of the Southern 
states decided to secede from the Union. 

After the War of the Revolution, the states had united 
to form a nation under the Constitution of the United 
States. Each state had entered the Union voluntarily. Be- 
cause the North and South could not agree on the question 
of slavery, and because for years the people of the South- 
ern states had held that each state had the right to decide 
for itself whether it would or would not obey Congress, the 
South now thought it best to withdraw and form a separate 
nation. The North said, " The Union must be preserved." 

104 



BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR 105 

This brought on the dreadful Civil War, in which many 
brave men were killed. 

South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama se- 
ceded in December, i860. Early in January, 1861, a con- 
vention met at Milledgeville, to decide whether Georgia 
should secede. Speeches were made supporting each side 
of the question. On the nineteenth of January the vote 
was taken, and Georgia seceded from the Union. The 
vote was not unanimous ; but after it was cast even those 
who did not think that secession was the wisest course 
decided to remain loyal to their state. 

Other states followed, until eleven had seceded. A 
convention of delegates from these eleven states met at 
Montgomery, Alabama, to frame a constitution. They 
called themselves the Confederate States of America, and 
we speak of them as the Southern Confederacy. Jefferson 
Davis of Mississippi was elected president, and Alexander 
H. Stephens of Georgia, vice president. 

Just before the war, the state of Georgia was wealthy 
and prosperous. It was a country of rich plantations, 
thriving towns, and growing railroads. The state had 
built the Western and Atlantic railroad from Atlanta to 
Chattanooga, which paid yearly into the state treasury the 
sum of four hundred thousand dollars. The people were 
happy and contented, "and extreme poverty was almost 
unknown among them. 



CHAPTER XXX 

SOME MEN PROMINENT IN WAR TIMES 

In April, 1821, a boy was born in Pickens district, South 
Carolina, who was destined to act a great part in the his- 
tory of Georgia. This boy was Joseph Emerson Brown. 




Joseph Emerson Brown 

His parents, who were poor, moved to Gaddistown, Georgia, 
during his boyhood. He grew up on the farm, plowing 
and hoeing and reaping, having little opportunity to go to 
school, but gaining all the sturdy strength which belongs 
to the country boy. At nineteen he had learned only 
reading, writing, and some arithmetic, but a burning desire 
for an education was in his heart. One spring his father 
gave him the pair of steers. Buck and Tom, with which 

106 



SOME MEN PROMINENT IN WAR TIMES 10/ 

he had plowed all the winter, and he left home to seek 
an education. He went to Anderson, South CaroHna, sold 
the steers for enough to pay his board for a year, and 
began a course of hard study. At the end of the year, he 
assumed a debt for board for a second year, and continued 
his work. He paid off this debt by teaching, then studied 
law, and in time became a judge. At the age of thirty- 
four he had accomphshed all this without help, through his 
own energy and strength of will. 

One summer afternoon, he walked out to his fields to 
watch the work of the hands, who were cutting wheat. 
Finding that the cutters were getting ahead of the binders, 
he took off his coat and went to work binding. Late that 
afternoon, when he had returned to the house, a friend 
rode up on horseback, and told him that the convention at 
Milledgeville had nominated him governor of Georgia. 
At the very hour when his name was before the conven- 
tion he was binding wheat in the field. 

He was elected and made an able governor. Because he 
had been poor, he understood and sympathized with the 
common people, and always took their side against those 
who tried to oppress them. He was so stern and unyield- 
ing in the path of duty that he made many enemies, but 
the common people trusted him because they felt that he 
had a wise head and a tender heart. Under his wise and 
skillful management Georgia became the richest of the 
Southern states. He was governor of Georgia during 
the war. 

Another prominent man of this important period was 
Alexander Hamilton Stephens. He was so small and 
feeble in body that people called him " Little Aleck" ; but 
he had a great mind and a loving and generous disposition. 



I08 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Even when he was a member of the legislature, he was 
often mistaken for a schoolboy. His father and step- 
mother died when he was fourteen years old. But in 
spite of poverty and sickness he contrived by his own 
efforts to secure a good education, and became a famous 
lawyer. He was an eloquent speaker, and people listened 
in amazement as this feeble, beardless boy, for such he 




Alexander Hamilton Stephens 

seemed to be, pleaded with such persuasive power that 
the jury frequently shed tears. 

He was a member of Congress at the beginning of the 
war, but resigned his place and came home to help his 
state. He did not want Georgia to secede, for he thought 
it was best to preserve the Union. Many other leading 
men, among them Benjamin H. Hill and Herschel V. 
Johnson, thought the same thing. But Governor Brown, 
Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, and other leaders in the 
state favored secession. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

THE CIVIL WAR 

In April, 1861, the war began. It lasted four years. 
During this time Georgia furnished more troops than any 
other Southern state. She sent one hundred and twenty 
thousand men, twenty thousand more than her number of 
voters at the beginning of the war. They fought on many 
a bloody battlefield, and thousands of them never came 
home again. One of the bravest, General Francis S. Bar- 
tow, said when he started, '* I go to illustrate Georgia;" 
and nobly did he fulfill his words, falling at the head of his 
troops in the very first battle. And not only Bartow, but 
every other Georgian who wore the gray uniform illus- 
trated Georgia. Vice President Stephens, endeavoring by 
wise counsel to end the war and- secure peace ; Governor 
Brown, managing prudently the affairs of the state ; our 
gallant generals and other officers in the field; every 
private soldier in the ranks, and the noble women at 
home, bearing hardship and poverty, yet keeping brave 
hearts for the sake of the soldier boys, — all, with patience, 
loyalty, and heroism, " illustrated Georgia." 

The soldiers of the North were called Federals ; they 
wore the blue uniform of the United States. The uniform 
of the Southern troops was gray, and they were called 
Confederates. But the terms Federal and Confederate 
were not used so commonly as the nicknames Yankee and 
Rebel. 

109 



no THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Those were dark days. On the battlefield our bravest 
and best fell, yielding up their lives in defense of the state 
they loved ; at home the women sat making clothing and 
knitting socks for the soldiers, and whenever a battle took 
place, dreading to hear the report, lest the name of hus- 
band or father or brother should be upon the list of the 
wounded or killed. 

The Federal armies cut us off from communication with 
the rest of the world, so that we had to make at home 
many things which we had been accustomed to obtain 
from abroad. The fingers of the women grew very skillful 
in fashioning all sorts of contrivances, and in spite of the 
grim horrors of war, there was many a laugh over the 
funny substitutes for useful articles. Hats were made of 
corn shucks ; buttons of persimmon seeds ; when leather 
grew scarce, shoes were made with wooden bottoms. 
Coffee was replaced by sweet potatoes, cut into dice and 
browned in the oven, or parched wheat and rye, and the 
family was fortunate that had syrup with which to sweeten 
this drink. 

Common salt was the article most needed and hardest 
to get. It seems strange to think of salt as precious, and 
yet the people could not cure their meat without it. Many 
farmers dug up the dirt floors of their smoke houses and 
washed out of them the salt which had accumulated there. 
When salt grew very scarce, speculators bought up all that 
could be found, and sold it at so high a price that poor 
people could not get it at all. Then Governor Brown seized 
the supply in the name of the state, sold it at a reasonable 
price to those who could buy, and gave it away to those 
who could not. 

Many of the Federal soldiers who had been captured 



THE CIVIL WAR * III 

by the Confederates were confined at a place in South 
Georgia called Andersonville. This place was selected 
because of its mild cHmate. But the Confederate govern- 
ment needed all its troops to fight battles and could spare 
very few men to guard the prisoners. The prisoners 
were crowded in order to need as small a guard as pos- 
sible, and they suffered severely. The Confederates 
had not food and medicine enough for their own men ; 
what they had they shared with the prisoners, but it was 
not enough to prevent hunger and disease. Many of the 
Federal captives died, as did many Southern captives in 
Northern prisons. The Confederate government tried to 
arrange an exchange of prisoners with the United States 
government, but the offer was refused, because the Fed- 
erals did not need their men, having plenty of others, and 
did not want the Confederates to have theirs back to put 
into the army again. The terrible hardships endured by 
the men in prisons, both in the North and South, formed 
one of the saddest parts of the war. 

During the four years of war, the slaves behaved 
remarkably well. When their masters had gone to the 
army, they stayed at home and worked, obeying the mis- 
tress and supporting the family by raising crops. They 
had formed the habit of obedience, and could not realize 
that one result of this great war would be their freedom. 
The people at the North thought that the slaves would 
rise in rebellion, kill the white people, and destroy their 
property ; but they did not. When the Union army came 
near their homes, many of the negroes left their owners 
and followed it. Some of them were organized into com- 
panies to fight in the Union army ; but most of them made 
poor soldiers, for fighting is not the instinct of their race. 



CHAPTER XXXII 

THE WAR IN GEORGIA 

For more than two years there was very Httle fighting 
on Georgia soil. Our men were in the army in Virginia 
under General Robert E. Lee, and also in Mississippi 
and Tennessee; but until 1863 our state hardly felt the 
scourge of war within her borders. In September of this 
year, a fierce battle was fought at Chickamauga. General 
Longstreet's weary men arrived from Virginia in time to 
turn the victory to the Confederates. But in a few days 
another battle was fought at Missionary Ridge, in which 
the boys in gray were defeated. 

In May, 1864, the Federal general, William T. Sherman, 
left Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a large force to march 
toward Atlanta. He was opposed by General Joseph E. 
Johnston with an army not half as large. General John- 
ston knew that he could not afford to wage an open battle, 
because when a Federal soldier fell there were others to take 
his place, while every Confederate slain meant one man 
less to fight for the South. So he wisely hung around 
Sherman's army, retreating when necessary, hindering the 
enemy's progress as much as possible, attacking when 
everything was in his favor, and showing masterly skill in 
handling a small army against a large one. From early 
May till late in July, through the beautiful summer weather, 
the hills of North Georgia echoed to the tramp of armies, 
and the blue and gray columns wound along the red roads 

112 



THE WAR IN GEORGIA II3 

and among the green woods. The flashing bayonets ght- 
tered in the summer sunshine, and the roar of the cannon 
mocked the beauty of woods and hills. Steadily retreat- 
ing southward, the Confederate soldiers left behind them 
their homes and wives and children in the track of the 
armies. Many of these families abandoned their homes, 
taking with them only what they could carry in a wagon, 
and fled to places of safety. They lived in tents or unused 
freight cars or wherever they could find a place. They 
were called Refugees. 

There was fighting all along the line of retreat, when- 
ever General Johnston saw that he could risk an engage- 
ment. The most serious battle was at Kennesaw Mountain, 
near Marietta, where many men were killed. On the ninth 
of July, Johnston crossed the Chattahoochee River and en- 
camped near Atlanta. 

President Davis and his advisers thought that General 
Johnston ought to fight a battle. Johnston knew it was 
not best to do so, because his army was so much smaller 
than Sherman's. He was removed from the command, 
and General John B. Hood was put in his place. Hood 
was as brave as Johnston, but not so wise. Two days after 
he assumed the command, on the twentieth of July, he 
met the Federals in a battle northeast of Atlanta, in which 
he was defeated with great loss. The same thing happened 
two days later, and again on the twenty-eighth ; and then, 
after another defeat at Jonesboro, Hood retreated north- 
westward toward Alabama and Tennessee with the small 
remnant of an army left to him, and Atlanta was in Sher- 
man's hands. 

Sherman compelled the people, most of them women 
and children, to leave the city, and then burned their 



114 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

homes. Very few houses were left standing in Atlanta in 
that sad autumn of 1864. Sherman said that the quickest 
way to end the war was to make it horrible ; and he cer- 
tainly did make it horrible. 

In November, Sherman started on his famous march 
through Georgia, from Atlanta to Savannah. There was 
no army to oppose him ; Hood with his fragment of an 
army was in Tennessee, and the state militia, consisting of 
boys under sixteen and old men, could do little to check 
Sherman's strong forces. All along their path the Federal 
army burned the houses, stole the silver, trampled the 
crops, killed the stock, and sent women and children flee- 
ing from their homes. From Atlanta to Savannah, over a 
tract forty miles wide, they left behind them ruin and 
desolation. For years afterward lone chimneys could be 
seen marking the spot where happy homes had been ; the 
people called these chimneys Sherman's Sentinels. 

The legislature was in session at Milledgeville at this 
time. They had adjourned for dinner when word came 
that Sherman's army was approaching. They fled at once, 
using all the carriages, buggies, and wagons that could be 
found. Governor Brown tried to save the records and 
other property of the state, but no one could be found 
to load the cars with them. The penitentiary was at 
Milledgeville, and Governor Brown remembered the strong 
men confined within the frowning walls. He called the 
convicts together and made them a talk, promising free- 
dom and pardon to all who would help load the cars 
and then enlist as soldiers of the Confederacy. They 
responded gladly, gave the desired help, and then organ- 
ized a company with one of their number as captain. A 
gun and uniform were furnished to each man and they 



THE WAR IN GEORGIA 



115 



were ordered to report to General Wayne, who commanded 
a small body of militia. A few of these men afterward 
deserted, but most of them served faithfully and were 
honorably discharged at the end of the war. 

Late in December Sherman entered Savannah, and 
sent a telegram to Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, telling him that he made him a Christmas 
present of that city. For the second time in the history 
of Georgia, Savannah was taken by a hostile army just at 
Christmas time. 





Confederate AIunlmi„\i at Savannah. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

WHAT THE WAR COST GEORGIA 

On the ninth of April, 1865, General Lee surrendered 
at Appomattox Court-House in Virginia, and the war was 
at an end. In men and wealth it had cost Georgia more 
than any other Southern state. Three-fourths of her prop- 
erty was swept away. But that loss, great as it was, 
seemed nothing compared with the precious lives that had 
been sacrificed and the sorrow of the widows and orphans 
all over the land. 

Georgia had given all that she had for the Southern 
Confederacy. Her statesmen had guided in council, her 
generals had led in battle, her men had fought bravely, 
her women had worked and suffered. She had furnished 
powder, guns, and cotton and woolen cloth. Her machine 
shops and iron works had produced cars and machinery. 
As she was the richest Southern state at the beginning of 
the war, so she had been the most i-mportant in furnish- 
ing supplies ; and Sherman's march had destroyed all her 
prosperity. 

General A. R. Lawton, a Georgian, was quartermaster 
general of the Confederacy. His work was to provide 
the supplies of ammunition, food, and clothing to the sol- 
diers, and to control the moving of the army from one 
place to another. His means were so limited and his man- 
agement so skillful that it was said of him that he made one 
mule or one yard of cloth serve for three. 

116 



WHAT THE WAR COST GEORGIA 



117 



Georgia was represented in the war by three Heutenant 
generals, W. J. Hardee, John B. Gordon, and Joseph 
Wheeler; seven major generals, David E. Twiggs, A. R. 
Wright, Pierce M. B. Young, LaFayette McLaws, Howell 





Howell Cobb. 



John B. Gordon. 



Cobb, David R. Jones, and W. H. T. Walker; and forty- 
two brigadier generals. 

The most distinguished Georgians who died on the 
battlefield were General Francis S. Bartow, General T. R. 
R. Cobb, and General W. H. T. Walker. 

The youngest major general in the South was General 
John B. Gordon, who has since been governor of the state. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 
AFTER THE SURRENDER 

In less than a week after Lee surrendered, a dreadful 
thing happened at Washington. Abraham Lincoln, the 
great and good President of the United States, who wished 
for peace and would have treated the South kindly, was 
assassinated by a madman, John Wilkes Booth. The fact 
that Booth was a Southern man and thought that he was 
serving the South by killing the president made the North 
very bitter against the South. Andrew Johnson, the vice 
president, became president at Lincoln's death. He was 
neither so wise nor so kind as Lincoln. 

Though the war was over, the leaders of the Southern 
Confederacy were not out of danger. President Davis and 
his cabinet left Richmond, which had been the capital of 
the Confederacy, and traveled together southward to Wash- 
ington, Georgia, where Robert Toombs lived. They carried 
with them in wagons a great sum of gold and silver money, 
which was left in the Confederate treasury at the close of 
the war. The cabinet held its last meeting and agreed to 
give part of this money to buy food for the poor soldiers 
returning from the war. It was a kind thought, but the 
country was so disturbed and affairs were in such confusion 
that the plan was a difficult one to carry out. They gave 
^26.25 each to as many soldiers as they could reach, and 
sent $40,000 to a Federal officer at Augusta to be distrib- 
uted among the needy. There is no record that this dis- 

118 



AFTER THE SURRENDER HQ 

tribution was ever made. The rest of the money was 
captured by the Federals and put into the United States 
treasury. 

The cabinet then separated, and a few days later, on 
May the tenth, President Davis was captured at daybreak 
by a band of Federal cavalry, at a little place called Irwin- 
ville. He was taken to Fortress Monroe, where he was 
loaded with chains like a common criminal, by order of 
General Nelson A. Miles, who claimed that he was acting 
under instructions from E. M. Stanton, secretary of war. 
The chains were soon removed, but President Davis was 
kept in confinement two years. After this time he was 
released without a trial, and spent the rest of his life peace- 
fully at Beauvoir, his beautiful home in Mississippi. 

Alexander H. Stephens was also arrested, and sent to 
Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor, where he was at first con- 
fined in a room partly underground. He suffered much 
on account of the dampness until he was given a more 
comfortable place. His younger brother, Linton, was al- 
lowed to be with him, and he was treated with great kind- 
ness during his confinement; but he was too feeble to 
undergo the hardships of prison life without pain and 
sickness. It was May when he was arrested, and when 
he was released in October, his beautiful dark hair had 
turned almost entirely gray. 

As the members of the Confederate cabinet were leav- 
ing Washington, Georgia, a soldier on horseback galloped 
back to General Toombs's house, threw into the yard a bag 
containing five thousand dollars in gold, and rode swiftly 
away. Like everybody else in those days, General Toombs 
needed money very much, but he was too proud to accept 
this gift from an unknown friend. He had it turned over 



I20 



THE STORY OF GEORGIA 



to a Federal officer with instructions to use it to buy food 
for Confederate soldiers. 

When the Federal soldiers came to arrest General 
Toombs, he saw them coming and escaped from the back 
of the house while Mrs. Toombs met them at the front 
door. She detained them, on pretext of having them 




Robert Toombs. 

search the house, for half an hour, while the general 
gained a place of safety. That night a faithful friend led 
out to him his famous mare, Gray Alice. This animal had 
carried him during his campaigns, and now on her back 
he fled from his pursuers. The Federal cavalry guarded 
every ford and ferry so closely that it was six months 
before he could escape from Georgia. All this time he 
wandered from place to place on Gray Alice. Finally he 



AFTER THE SURRENDER 121 

made his way to Mobile, where he was received into the 
house of Mrs. Augusta Evans Wilson. She was so afraid 
that he would be discovered and captured that she dis- 
missed her cook and waited on him with her own hands. 
He escaped to England, where he remained for several 
years, until it was safe for him to come home. He then 
returned and was never molested ; but he refused to take 
the oath of amnesty to the United States government, and 
was an " unreconstructed rebel " to the day of his death. 




Benjamin H. Hill. 

After Lee's surrender. Governor Brown surrendered the 
state troops at Macon and returned to his home, the execu- 
tive mansion at Milledgeville. Here he was arrested, being 
given only half an hour to make his preparations and to 
take leave of his family. He was carried to Washington, 
where, after a week's confinement, he had an interview 
with President Johnson and was allowed to return home. 

Ben Hill and Howell Cobb were also arrested, but were 
released after a short imprisonment. 



CHAPTER XXXV 
RECONSTRUCTION 

When the armies of the South surrendered, Congress 
said that the Southern states were no longer states, be- 
cause they had seceded from the Union. They could not 
be readmitted to their rights as states and members of 
the Union until they had agreed to certain things. These 
were that the negroes should be free ; that they should 
be allowed to vote, hold office, and have all the rights of 
white citizens ; that the states should refuse to pay the 
debt they had assumed in carrying on the war ; and that 
people who had held any office before the war and then 
taken part in the war should not be allowed to hold office 
again until pardoned by Congress. 

President Johnson did not agree with Congress on these 
matters and an angry quarrel took place between them 
over the reconstruction of the Southern states. Georgia 
resisted the interference of Congress in her affairs long 
and bitterly. Georgia people have always believed that 
it is the right of a state to govern itself. They were not 
willing to submit to generals of the United States army 
and provisional governors, as they were called, appointed 
by the president or by a general. Because Georgia wouki 
not yield without resistance, she was the last state to be 
readmitted. The reconstruction struggle lasted five years, 
and it was nearly two years later before the government 
was actually in the hands of the people of the state. 



RECONSTRUCTION 123 

General Wilson was the Federal general commanding 
in Georgia at the close of the war. He would not allow 
the legislature to assemble, or the state officers to exercise 
authority. Governor Brown resigned, and President John- 
son appointed James Johnson provisional governor. Then 
a new legislature was elected, which assembled at Mil- 
ledgeville, and Charles J. Jenkins, a true son of Georgia, 
was elected governor by the people and permitted by the 



/ 


•I \ 


/ 




^i^"^^ 




\ 


I 




Charles J. Jenkins. 

president to assume the office. But as the legislature 
refused to do all Congress required, Georgia was declared 
to be no longer a state, and together with Alabama and 
Florida was formed into Military District No. 3, over which 
General Pope was commander. 

About this time Governor Brown went to Washington 
to see if anything could be done to help the Southern 
people. On his return he told the people that there 
was nothing to do but to submit, agree to all the demands 
of Congress, and wait for better times. This made the 



124 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Georgia people angry, because they could not bear to yield 
tamely and see their right of self-government taken from 
them. Governor Brown, who had been so loved and hon- 
ored for his services to the state, was hated and abused. 
This unpopularity was very intense while it lasted, but he 
Hved to see it all pass away and to find himself once more 
respected as one of the greatest of Georgians. 

Governor Jenkins and Ben Hill took the other side and 
advised the people not to submit. Indeed, submission 
was very hard. The acts which the state legislature was 
required to pass put the slaves on an equality with their 
former owners, and made it impossible for the wisest 
and best men of the state to hold office until pardoned by 
Congress. 

At this time there came to the South many poor, un- 
scrupulous politicians from the North, called carpetbag- 
gers, because each carried all he possessed in a single 
carpetbag. But if poor when they came, they did not long 
remain so. They put false ideas into the negroes' minds, 
made them dislike the white people, got themselves elected 
to office, and grew rich by cheating and swindling. The 
poor negroes' heads were entirely turned by freedom. 
They thought that being free meant never to have any 
more work to do. They used to sing with great delight : — 

" No mo' Monday mornin' ; 
No mo' hoein' in de cornfield ; 
No mo' waitin' on de white folks ; " 

and so on, for many verses. In every town, the Republican 
party estabhshed what was called a Freedmen's Bureau, 
where help was given to those negroes who could not or 
would not support themselves. This only made them 



RECONSTRUCTION 125 

more idle. The carpetbaggers taught them that all the 
property of the white people would be divided among 
them ; they promised each negro forty acres and a mule. 
Under these circumstances the negroes became lawless 
and reckless. They flocked to the towns to live in idle- 
ness. Stock was stolen every night ; no property was safe ; 
rioting and murder became common. 

Some white men, seeing that the laws for the control of 
the negroes were not enforced, and knowing how super- 
stitious the black people were, formed a secret society for 
protection, calling it the Ku-Klux Klan. The members of 
the Klan never appeared in the daytime; they rode at 
night, clad in black robes, with black masks over their 
faces. Their horses were shod with leather or had 
their feet wrapped with hay to deaden the noise of 
their hoofs. The riders never spoke if they could 
make their wishes known by signs. They seemed to 
be always thirsty; they drank whole buckets of water. 
Whenever a negro was unruly or thievish, he was sure to 
receive a visit from the Ku-Klux Klan. Their silence, 
their blackness, their thirst, made them objects of awe 
and terror to the ignorant blacks. Nothing else could 
have checked the negroes' lawlessness as did this dreaded 
Ku-Klux Klan. Sometimes they were cruel to the negroes, 
and to the white people as well, but in many cases their 
influence was good. 

A convention, ordered by General Pope, was held in 
Atlanta. It contained a few good men, but the majority 
consisted of negroes and carpetbaggers. They framed 
a new constitution to be submitted to the people. The 
members of the convention were eager for their pay, and 
demanded forty thousand dollars from John Jones, the 



126 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

state treasurer. He replied that the law forbade him to 
pay out money except by order of the governor. Gen- 
eral Meade, who had just been appointed military com- 
mander in place of General Pope, told Governor Jenkins 
to write the order. 

But Governor Jenkins was a Georgian of the same kind 
as Troup, Jackson, Cobb, Brown, and others who had 
preceded him. He replied that such a use of the state's 
money was contrary to law. General Meade immediately 
removed him from his position as governor of Georgia, 
and appointed Colonel Ruger to fill the office. He also 
appointed Captain Rockwell to be treasurer in place of 
Mr. Jones. But they found no money to pay the con- 
vention, for Governor Jenkins had taken four hundred 
thousand dollars, all that was in the treasury, and the great 
seal, and had left the state. He deposited the money in 
a bank in New York ; then, determined that no military 
despot should profane the great seal, the symbol of author- 
ity of a free people, he carried it with him to Nova Scotia, 
where he remained until it was safe for him to return. 

An election was held, and by the vote of negroes and 
carpetbaggers, Rufus B. Bullock became governor. This 
election also made Atlanta the state capital. The very 
month when Bullock was inaugurated governor, Georgia 
was readmitted to the Union. 

Immediately the legislature expelled its negro members. 
Congress retaliated by refusing to allow the Georgia sena- 
tors and representatives to be seated, and making Georgia 
a military district under the command of General Terry 
Orders were sent to Governor Bullock to reorganize the 
legislature and reseat the negro members. This was done, 
but in a most disorderly way, without regard to law or 



•RECONSTRUCTION 12/ 

right. The attention of Congress was called to the illegal 
acts of the Georgia legislature. The judiciary committee 
of Congress held an investigation, and at length reported 
that the proceedings of the legislature were improper 
and contrary to law. Georgia was finally admitted to the 
Union, July the fifteenth, 1870. 

One of the saddest features of this sad time was the con- 
tinual misunderstanding between the North and the South. 
The Southern people believed that the whole North was 
hostile, whereas the politicians in Congress were making 
all of the trouble. The North was filled with wild tales 
of what happened in the South, of cruelty to the negroes 
and Southern hatred of the Union. Thus, while the good 
men both North and South grieved over the state of 
affairs, they were deceived by the falsehoods of the poli- 
ticians. Governor Bullock helped to spread these false 
and cruel tales and to make the Northern people believe 
that the white citizens of Georgia hated and oppressed the 
negroes. 

In October, 1871, fearful that his fraud and extravagance 
would be discovered, Bullock resigned and fled from the 
state. He had been gone a week before his resignation 
was made public. Benjamin Conley, president of the sen- 
ate, acted as governor until an election could be held. 

On the twelfth of January, 1872, James M. Smith, who 
had been elected by the people, was inaugurated governor. 
Once more Georgia was a free, self-governing state. The 
long misrule of reconstruction was at an end, and the 
people rejoiced. Our senators and representatives were 
now seated among the other lawmakers at Washington, 
taking part in the councils of the nation. The stars and 
stripes floating above us no longer represented an enemy. 



128 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

but the glorious Union, the sisterhood of states of which 
Georgia was a part. 

Ex-governor Jenkins came home from Nova Scotia, 
bringing back the seal of the state. He delivered it to 
Governor Smith with the statement that it gave him great 
satisfaction to know that the state emblem had never been 
desecrated by the grasp of a military usurper's hand, never 
used to authenticate the official misdeeds of an upstart 
pretender. The legislature presented to Governor Jenkins 
a facsimile of the seal, bearing a Latin motto, in arduis 
FiDELis, which means faithful in difficulties. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

THE GROWTH OF THE STATE 

The Georgia people were not satisfied with the consti- 
tution which had been framed by the carpetbag convention. 
Moreover, the question of the state capital had never been 
definitely settled ; both Milledgeville and Atlanta eagerly 
desired that honor. A convention met in Atlanta in 1877 
and framed a new and satisfactory constitution, which was 
adopted by the people in December and is in use to this 
day. At the same election Atlanta was made the per- 
manent capital. 

A handsome capitol building of hmestone, finished 
within with Georgia marble, was erected in this city. 
One remarkable fact about this statehouse is that it cost 
less than the money which the state had appropriated to 
build it, and when all the expenses were paid, a small 
balance was returned to the treasury by the commissioners 
who had the work in charge. Such a thing has never 
happened in connection with the building of any other 
state capitol. The legislature gave the commissioners a 
vote of thanks for their honesty and economy in the use 
of the state's money. 

From 1872 to 1894, a period of twenty-two years, 
Georgia had a series of governors who had served the 
Confederate cause. The first of these was James M. 
Smith. He was succeeded by General Alfred H. Colquitt, 
who had won fame for himself in Florida, where he was 

129 



130 



THE STORY OF GEORGIA 




THE GROWTH OF THE STATE 131 

victor at the battle of Olustee. Next came the briUiant 
Alexander H. Stephens, who was elected governor at the 
age of seventy years. But he died after he had held the 
office only a few months, and the whole state mourned for 
him. In spite of a dehcate body and constant ill health, 
he had enjoyed every honor that his fellow-citizens could 
bestow upon him, having been chosen member of the 
legislature, member of Congress, United States senator, 
vice president of the Confederacy, and governor of the 
state. Honor still follows him, even since his death, for 
his statue will be placed in the National Hall of Fame 
together with that of Dr. Long. These two Georgia men, 
on account of the service which they have rendered their 
state, have been deemed most worthy of this honor. 

James S. Boynton, president of the senate, filled the 
office of governor for a short time after the death of 
Stephens, until an election could be held. Henry D. 
McDaniel, another Confederate veteran, was then chosen 
by the people. After him came General John B. Gordon, 
who had been General Lee's most efficient helper in those 
last trying days in Virginia just before the surrender at 
Appomattox. The next governor was William J. Northen, 
who closed for a time this honored list of soldiers, for 
William Y. Atkinson, who succeeded him, was too young 
to wear the gray uniform. But Allen D. Candler, who 
came next, had been a brave soldier and had lost one eye 
in battle. He was followed by Joseph H. Terrell, who 
now holds the proud position of governor of Georgia, and 
who, hke Atkinson, was too young to be a Confederate 
soldier. 

These governors were men of whom Georgia is justly 
proud. They have upheld the honor of the state, have 



132 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

administered the laws with justice, and have been worthy 
members of the long and splendid Hne which began with 
Oglethorpe, 

Governor Brown outlived his unpopularity, and again 
served his state as judge and as United States senator. 
Ben Hill made the walls of the senate chamber at Wash- 
ington ring once more with his fiery eloquence. Another 
son of Georgia, Charles F. Crisp, has filled with credit the 
position of speaker of the national House of Representa- 
tives, to which he was elected in 1890; and still another, 
Hoke Smith, has shown great efficiency as secretary of 
the interior in President Cleveland's cabinet. 

Between the years of 1880 and 1890, a young Georgian, 
Henry W. Grady, made himself very popular, both in the 
North and the South, by his persuasive eloquence. His 
silver tongue, preaching love and harmony, did much to 
bring the two sections into friendlier relations. He origi- 
nated the name *' The New South," by which is meant the 
new spirit of enterprise which is building up the South. 
Unfortunately, his gifted life was cut short just when he 
seemed to be doing the most good. After a briUiant 
speech at Boston, Massachusetts, which won the hearts of 
all his hearers, he returned home to die of pneumonia con- 
tracted during the journey. His death occurred just at 
Christmas time, and the mourning for him saddened the 
Christmas joy in every home in the state. 

In 1898 the people of the South had an opportunity to 
show that they could follow the stars and stripes as valiantly 
as they had followed the Confederate flag. The island of 
Cuba, which belonged to Spain, was so badly governed 
that the inhabitants determined to shake off the Spanish 
rule. They appealed to the United States for help. The 



THE GROWTH OF THE STATE 



133 



United States battleship Maine, anchored in the harbor of 
Havana, was blown up by an explosion, under rather sus- 
picious circumstances, and most of her crew were killed. 
The United States declared war against Spain, and called 
on the various states for soldiers. Three Georgia regi- 




MONUMENT TO HENRY W. GRADY. 

ments were quickly enlisted, and while most of the soldiers 
were young men, a few gray-haired veterans of the lost 
cause showed their loyalty to the Union by volunteering. 
The most conspicuous among them was General A. R. 
Lawton. But this war lasted only a few months. A treaty 
of peace was made with Spain in August, 1898. 

Since that glad day in January, 1872, when James M. 



134 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Smith was inaugurated, the growth of Georgia in wealth 
and prosperity has been constant. Men set to work with 
new energy ; farms w^ere cultivated, vineyards and orchards 
set out, bridges and railroads built, cotton mills erected, 
and all the resources of the state developed by a happy 
and industrious people. At first the white people de- 
pended too much upon negro labor, not realizing that they 
must go to work themselves ; many failed because they 
went into debt to furnish rations to the negro hands whom 
they employed in the cultivation of cotton. When the 
cotton was sold at a low price, the planters could not pay 
their debts. Sometimes too much cotton was raised, and 
not enough corn and meat, sometimes farms were mort- 
gaged and sold, some people did not know how to manage 
their business, some were idle, and some were unfortunate. 
But the majority soon learned to stop relying upon negro 
labor and to work with their own hands. So the state 
prospered, until now (1904) her wealth is nearly as great 
as before the war. 

Georgia, so long a distinctly agricultural state, has in the 
last few years given much attention to her manufacturing 
interests. It has proved the more economical plan to 
manufacture cotton goods in the country where the cotton 
is raised. The excellent water power of the various rivers 
has been utihzed, and many large mills have been estab- 
lished. Besides cotton mills, there are knitting, hosiery, 
and woolen mills in the state. In the large cities, machin- 
ery, farming implements, and furniture are manufactured. 
A great commercial and manufacturing interest has arisen, 
and numerous small industries add to the wealth of the state. 

The mining interests have also received considerable 
attention in recent years. The finest quality of marble is 



THE GROWTH OF THE STATE 135 

quarried in Pickens and Cherokee counties. Stone Moun- 
tain furnishes an inexhaustible supply of building granite. 
Iron, coal, gold, and bauxite are also mined in Georgia. 

During the last few years the culture of silk in Georgia 
has been revived. The northern sections of the state 
have been found to be better adapted to the growth of 
the silkworm than the southern regions. Factories for 
the manufacture of silk goods have been built in many 
states. The demand for raw silk is increasing, and it is 
probable that in the near future silk culture will be an im- 
portant industry in north Georgia. 

These varied industries are changing the character of 
the population from a purely agricultural people to one 
engaged in many and busy pursuits ; but raising cotton 
is still, and will probably be for some time, the chief occu- 
pation of the state. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 

SOME GEORGIA INVENTIONS 

It sometimes happens that two or more men, in differ- 
ent parts of the world, have their minds fixed on solving 
the same question, and at length the same idea comes to 
each of them, so that it is difficult to tell which one was 
really the first to make the great discovery. It was so 
with the invention of the steamboat and the discovery of 
anaesthesia. 

Robert Fulton is usually regarded as the inventor of 
steam navigation, but one year before he launched the 
Clermont on the Hudson River, William Longstreet of 
Augusta, Georgia, had made a successful trip with a 
steamboat on the Savannah. He believed that boats 
could be propelled by steam, and had been making experi- 
ments for a long time. His neighbors laughed at his idea, 
and called him foolish, but he persevered in his trials 
until, in 1806, he announced to his friends that he was 
ready to show them that he had been right. 

A few of the bravest of these friends embarked with 
him ; some others followed in a rowboat, to pick up the 
adventurers from the water if the steamboat should ex- 
plode. Longstreet carried his passengers a few miles down 
the river, then turned and steamed up the river some dis- 
tance beyond the point of starting, and returned to the 
landing. The boat did not blow up, and his experiment 
was a success. 

136 



SOME GEORGIA INVENTIONS 



137 



William Longstreet was a modest, retiring man, and did 
not care to take out a patent of his invention, although his 
friends urged him to do so. Some of them decided to go 
to Washington and press the matter for him, but while 
they delayed, they heard that Robert Fulton had made his 
successful attempt and taken out a patent. Longstreet 
would not contend for his rights. He was content to have 
accomplished his purpose, and did not care to receive 
credit for it. It is engraved on his tombstone that " All 




The " Savannah." 

[n 1819 the Savannah made the voyage from Savannah to Liverpool, thence to St. Petersburg. 
It was the first vessel to cross the ocean by the use of steam. 



the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry 
heart hath a continual feast." 

The second inventor, or rather discoverer, of whom 
Georgia has great reason to be proud made a valuable con- 
tribution to medical science through his investigation of 
anaesthesia. Anaesthesia is that insensibility to pain which 
is produced by some such medicine as ether or chloroform. 
Before its discovery, patients undergoing surgical opera- 
tions had to bear the horror of feehng every stab of the 
knife. Dr. Crawford W. Long, a physician of Jefferson, 



138 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Jackson County, Georgia, conceived the idea of render- 
ing patients unconscious of pain during surgical opera- 
tions. He had noticed that inhaling sulphuric ether made 
people unconscious. In 1842 he administered sulphuric 
ether to Mr. James Venable and removed a tumor from 
his neck, thus performing the first painless surgical opera- 
tion. Thousands of precious lives have been saved and 
an untold amount of suffering prevented by this discovery, 
which is one of the greatest blessings ever conferred on 
the human race. 

Several other men made the same discovery soon after 
1842, and claimed all the credit for it ; but it is now proved 
beyond a doubt that the operation performed by Dr. Long 
was the very first in which an anaesthetic was used. 
He is one of those two sons of Georgia who have been 
honored by having their statues placed in the National 
Hall of Fame. 

After it was found that the soil and climate of Georgia 
were suited to the production of cotton, a difficulty pre- 
sented itself which rendered the cotton crop of small 
value. The process of separating the lint from the seed 
by hand was a tedious one. To separate one pound of lint 
was a good day's work for a negro woman. 

In 1793 a young man from Massachusetts, Eli Whitney, 
was living at Mulberry Grove, the estate of General 
Greene's widow, on the Savannah River. Several planters 
were speaking of the difficulty of separating cotton from 
the seed, when Mrs. Greene suggested to them that they 
ask Mr. Whitney to make them a machine to perform this 
labor. He readily consented to try, and devoted that whole 
winter to the work. In 1794 he announced to a few friends 



SOME GEORGIA INVENTIONS 139 

that the cotton gin was ready. It is hard to estimate the 
immense importance of this invention. We may begin to 
understand its value when we remember that in 1791 the 
South shipped to England only 379 cotton bales, while ten 
years after the cotton gin came into general use, 82,000 
bales were shipped. The production of cotton brought 
wealth to Georgia, and gave her citizens political position 
and prominence in the affairs of the nation. 




Whitney's Cotton Gin. 

After the original model. 

But the people who derived so much benefit from Mr. 
Whitney's invention did not treat him well. The building 
in which his machine was hidden was broken open and his 
gin was carried away and used as a model by unscrupulous 
people, who put his invention into use. Mr. Whitney 
spent several years in lawsuits, contending for his rights, 
and then turned his attention in other directions. His work 
in making arms was successful, and his other inventions 
prospered, so that he became very wealthy, but the sad 
truth remains that some of the people of Georgia robbed 
and cheated him, and he never received anything in this 
state for the cotton gin which made Georgia rich. 



I40 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

Another Georgia invention is the sewing machine. Our 
grandmothers used to sit stitching with patient fingers for 
long hours to accomplish what a sewing machine does in a 
few minutes. Rev. Frank R. Goulding watched his wife 
sewing to provide the necessary clothing for a large family 
of children, and to lighten her labors he invented the sew- 
ing machine, which she was the first woman to use. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 
GEORGIA SCHOOLS 

When the settlers of Georgia built their homes in the 
woods and began to cut down the forests and cultivate the 
land, one of their first cares was to establish schools for 
their children. The first schools were very simple, and 
the boys and girls of this day would find many strange 
things in the old-field schools, as they were called. 

Our grandfathers and grandmothers went to school in a 
little log cabin, set somewhat back from the road, usually 
on a hill near a spring. In winter the chinks between the 
logs were filled with red clay to keep out the cold. In 
spring the daubing was knocked out for the sake of venti- 
lation, and the fresh air, sweet with the smell of the pine 
woods, came in through the cracks, as well as through the 
door and window. 

To this place the children came in the early morning, 
when the shadows were long and the dew lay on the grass. 
They sometimes came from houses four miles away, for 
a tramp of four miles in the morning air was a trifling mat- 
ter to the barefooted boys and girls of those days. And 
such pleasures they had on the way ! The mocking bird 
sang to them from the top of the black gum tree ; the gray 
squirrels scampered along the rail fence by the roadside ; 
in the fence corners grew blackberries and muscadines ; 
there were " branches," as they called them, where bare 
feet might wade ; and throwing stones was not forbidden, 

141 



142 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

as it annoyed no one. There was no such thing as being 
tardy. They left home after breakfast and arrived at school 
when they could, yet they did not loiter on the way. 

Inside the school there were long benches without backs, 
on which the children sat while they studied, boys on one 
side of the room, girls on the other. Against one wall 
stood the writing desk, where eight or ten pupils could 
write in their copy books at one time. The teacher set all 
the copies and made all the pens from goose quills brought 
by the children. Everybody studied the blue-backed speller. 
It was named Webster's Elementary Spelling Book, but it 
was called the blue-back from its dark blue cover. The 
larger boys, who ciphered (that is, did work in arithmetic), 
were allowed to sit out under the trees and study. They 
came into the schoolroom only to recite lessons. When 
fresh water was needed, two of the boys went to the spring, 
carrying the bucket between them on a pole. When they 
returned, the water was passed around, and each pupil 
helped himself with the long-handled gourd. 

There was no clock or watch, but when the sunlight, 
faUing through the open door, reached a certain mark on 
the floor, books were laid aside and the school swarmed 
out for its playtime of two hours. Then tin buckets were 
opened, and the dinners which had been put up in the 
morning by thoughtful mothers were eaten under the 
trees or down at the spring. These pupils had no school- 
yard ; to keep them from straying too far, certain bounds 
were appointed by the teachers. Any orchard within 
those bounds was open to the children, for fruit was as 
free as spring water in those days. If the children did 
not break the trees, they might eat what fruit they 
wished. 



GEORGIA SCHOOLS 143 

There was no bell. At the proper time, the teacher 
came to the door and called " Books ! " in a loud voice, and 
the children returned to the schoolroom. Those were the 
times when people believed in the switch. It was a rare 
day at school when some boy did not get a whipping. 
When the teacher saw a boy in mischief, he picked up 
the switch, which always lay ready at hand, and pitched 
it toward the offender. The boy at whose feet it fell had 
to pick it up and bring it to the teacher ; and he usually 
had to take his whipping then and there. 

When the shadows were long the other way, the children 
started home down the winding red road, carrying their 
empty tin buckets to be filled with roadside treasures, 
— blackberries, persimmons, chinquepins, each in its sea- 
son. 

Sometimes the larger boys planned to turn the teacher 
out of school and compel him to give them a hoKday. 
They managed to arrive at the school first and to bar the 
door. If the teacher could break in, the holiday was lost; 
but sometimes the teacher was good-natured, and did not 
try very hard. 

It was the deadliest insult that could be offered the 
school for a passer-by to call " School butter ! " Then 
all the boys raced after him, and he had better run fast, 
for if they caught him, they gave him a beating or a 
ducking. 

In course of time, academies for teaching the higher 
branches were established in the various towns. Governor 
John Milledge gave the state 630 acres of land, where the 
city of Athens now stands, for a state university. It was 
first called Franklin College. When the college was 
opened in 1801, with Josiah Meigs as president, there 



144 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

were only two houses in Athens. The first commencement 
was held three years later under an oak tree. 

The name was afterwards changed to that of State 
University, and its president is now called chancellor. 
Other schools were founded at Athens, so that the city 
has become an educational center of considerable impor- 
tance. The State University embraces not only the cen- 
tral institution at Athens, but the Medical College at 
Augusta, branch colleges at Dahlonega, Milledgeville, 
Cuthbert, and Thomasville, the Technological School at 
Atlanta, the Normal School at Athens, the Girls' Normal 
and Industrial School at Milledgeville, and the Industrial 
College for negroes at Savannah. These all belong to 
the state and are under the supervision of the university 
chancellor. 

In 1833 the Baptists established at Penfield a manual 
training school which afterwards grew to be Mercer Uni- 
versity. The school was named for Jesse Mercer, a noted 
Baptist preacher, and one of its main purposes was to 
train young men for the ministry. BiUington M. Sanders 
was its first president. The school opened with thirty- 
nine students in two double log cabins with a garret in 
each. These served for study, dining room, and dormitory. 
The university was chartered in 1839. In 1871 it was 
removed to Macon, where its beautiful buildings are an 
ornament to the city, and its elevating moral influence is 
felt throughout the state. 

In 1837 the Methodists founded Emory College at 
Oxford, named for Bishop Emory. Its first president was 
Ignatius A. Few. Emory College was founded with the 
especial purpose of helping young men of Hmited means 
to secure an education. 



GEORGIA SCHOOLS 145 

To the Methodists also belongs the honor of having 
estabhshed the first college for women in the world. This 
is the Wesleyan Female College at Macon, established in 
1839. Bishop George F. Pierce was its first president, and 
much of the success of the college is due to his tireless 
efforts. 

The Presbyterians had a school at Midway called Ogle- 
thorpe College. Like all the Georgia colleges, it was 
closed during the war, and could not be successfully re- 
vived afterwards. 

These are only a few of the most prominent schools of 
the state. There are many others, for both young men 
and young women, scattered over the country from the 
mountains to the sea. 

Money has been freely spent in Georgia by Northern 
people for the higher education of negroes. Clarke Uni- 
versity, the Atlanta University, Spellman Seminary, and 
the Morris-Brown Institute, all in Atlanta, as well as the 
Payne Institute at Augusta, offer superior advantages to 
them. 

In 1 87 1 the free-school system was first put into opera- 
tion in Georgia. Five months' schooling each year is 
furnished every child, white or black. Besides, all the 
cities and larger towns have local systems which keep 
schools open for nine months in each year ; and in many 
country districts where only five months are provided for, 
parents are so anxious to have their children well taught 
that private schools are carried on after the public term is 
ended. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 
GEORGIA WRITERS 

While the state of Georgia has been growing from the 
little settlement at Yamacraw Bluff to its present wealth 
and power ; while farmers have been toiling in the field, 
i^nd business has kept the cities stirring; while war has 
desolated the land, and peace has afterwards healed the 
wounds; all this time men have been putting into books 
the life of the people, with its beauty and its sadness, 
its laughter and its tears. So now we can learn to know 
our state in two ways : we can travel through it from 
Tallulah Falls to Okefinokee Swamp, and see all its rivers 
and cities, and talk with merchants, farmers, lawyers, and 
factory people ; or we can .read the books that our best 
writers have made for us, and so learn what kind of lives 
the people of Georgia have lived during the one hundred 
and seventy years of our history. These books are of four 
kinds: they are histories, stories, poetry, and humorous 
writings. 

Charles C. Jones has given us a faithful and accurate 
account of the state from the first settlement until the end 
of the Revolution. George White, in two books called " His- 
torical Collections of Georgia," and " Statistics of the State 
of Georgia," has brought together all the story of the early 
days of the state. Alexander H. Stephens, in the midst of 
his busy life, and in spite of constant sickness, found time 
to write several histories. Another statesman, Thomas E. 

146 



GEORGIA WRITERS 147 

Watson, has recently contributed some historical works to 
the literature of the state. 

Augusta Evans Wilson, the famous novelist, was born 
at Columbus, but her family removed to Texas when she 
was a young girl. She spent most of her life in and near 
Mobile. Some of her books are very popular, although 
they have been severely criticised for the learned style 
in which they are written. 

Dr. F. R. Goulding, who invented the sewing machine 
for his wife, wrote for his children a charming story called 
"The Young Marooners." The characters in this book 
are the children of his own family ; he read it to them as 
it was written, chapter by chapter, giving his own boys and 
girls the first opportunity to enjoy a story which has given 
pleasure to so many children. 

Mrs. Mary E. Bryan, though not a native of this state, 
has spent much of her life in Georgia. She now lives at 
Clarkston. She has written largely for periodicals, and she 
has also published several novels. 

Our most famous poet is Sidney Lanier, who was born 
in Macon in 1842. From his earliest childhood he showed 
unusual fondness for music. He could play on several 
instruments, though the violin was his favorite. Some- 
times the boy became so overcome with the passionate 
sweetness of his music that he fell into a sort of ecstatic 
trance. This tendency alarmed his father, who persuaded 
Sidney to give up the violin. He then began playing the 
flute, anct became the finest flute player in America. The 
hardships of army and prison life in the Civil War wrecked 
the poet's health and gave him consumption. With heroic 
determination he struggled against disease. He supported 
himself and his family by playing the flute in concerts 



148 



THE STORY OF GEORGIA 



in Baltimore and by lecturing on literature. All the 
time he was writing his beautiful poems. Finally his 
strength failed, and in September, 1881, he died among the 
mountains of North Carolina. Not until after Lanier's 
death was his poetry fully appreciated ; but now he is 
regarded as one of the greatest poets America has ever 
produced. 




Sidney Lanier 

The brave Henry R. Jackson was equally gifted with 
the sword and the pen, for he fought gallantly in two 
wars, and wrote some good poems, one of which is the 
universal favorite, ''The Red, Old Hills of Georgia." 

Lanier and Jackson were natives of Georgia ; we have 
besides several poets who were not born in the state, but 
whom we claim because they lived a part of their lives 
among us. Richard Henry Wilde, who wrote the little 
song, " My Life is hke the Summer Rose," was a native 
of Ireland and came to this country in his early childhood. 
He lived in Augusta, as did also Father Ryan, who has 
been called the " Poet-Priest-Warrior of the South," and 



GEORGIA WRITERS 149 

James R. Randall, the author of " Maryland, My Mary- 
land." Paul H. Hayne wrote many beautiful poems. 
Though a native of South CaroHna, Hayne spent many 
years at his home called Copse Hill near Augusta. 

In recent years a group of poets has grown up in 
Atlanta, among whom may be mentioned Charles W. 
Hubner, OreUa Key Bell, Montgomery M. Folsom, and 
Frank L. Stanton. 

Georgia people have always been fond of a joke, and 
Georgia has produced her share of humorous writers. 
Judge A. B. Longstreet, son of William Longstreet, the 
inventor of the steamboat, wrote among other things a book 
called " Georgia Scenes," a series of sketches of Cracker life 
and manners which has afforded amusement for many 
readers. Judge Longstreet, who was successively lawyer, 
judge, preacher, and college president, was ashamed of his 
book in his later years, and tried to suppress it ; but a book 
so full of fun could not be suppressed. 

Colonel William Thompson, a native of Ohio, who 
edited newspapers in several Georgia towns, was the 
author of a humorous story of Georgia life called " Major 
Jones's Courtship." 

Richard Malcolm Johnston, a native of Hancock County, 
has also written a series of Cracker stories which have been 
greatly admired. Like Longstreet, he was a teacher, and 
had a school near Baltimore until a few years ago. 

Charles H. Smith, or Bill Arp, as he called himself, has 
written much for the newspapers, and has published sev- 
eral books. He is sometimes called the Cherokee Philos- 
opher. 

The prince of Georgia humorists is Joel Chandler 
Harris, or Uncle Remus. Every boy and girl knows the 



I50 THE STORY OF GEORGIA 

story of Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, and all the other 
tales which Uncle Remus told the little boy by the cabin 
fire. Mr. Harris was born at Eatonton. In his childhood 
he heard from the negroes themselves the stories with 
which he has deHghted children all over the United States 
and even in England. He has lived in Atlanta during 
much of his life and has been engaged in newspaper work 
in connection with the Atlanta Constittction. His home 
is in the beautiful suburb of West End. 



GOVERNORS OF GEORGIA 









George Walton . . . 


1789 


Colonial 




Edward Telfair .... 


1790 


Gen. James E. Oglethorpe . 1732 


George Matthews . . . 


1793 


William Stephens {Acting) . 1 743 


Jared Irwin 


1796 


Henry Parker {Acting) . 


. 1751 


James Dickson .... 


1798 






David Emanuel . . . 


1801 


Provincial 




Josiah Tatnall .... 


1801 


John Reynolds .... 


• 1754 


John Milledge .... 


1802 


Henry Ellis 


• 1757 


Jared Irwin 


1806 


James Wright .... 


. 1760 


David B. Mitchell . . . 


1809 






Peter Early 


1813 


Provisional 




David B. Mitchell . . . 


1815 


Archibald Bulloch, President 1776 


William Rabun . . . 


1817 


Button Gwinnett, Presidetit 1777 


Matthew Talbot, President 








of Senate .... 


1819 


State 




John Clark 


1819 


John A. Treutlen . . 


. 1777 


George M. Troup . . . 


1823 


John Houston . . . 




• ^11^ 


John Forsyth .... 


1827 


John Wereat . . . 




. 1778 


George R. Gilmer . . . 


1829 


George Walton 




• 1779 


Wilson Lumpkin . . . 


1831 


Richard Hovvley . 




. 1780 


William Schley .... 


1833 


Stephen Heard 




. 1781 


George R. Gilmer . . . 


1837 


Nathan Brownson . 




. 1781 


Charles J. McDonald . . 


1839 


John Martin . . 




. 1782 


George W. Crawford . . 


1843 


Lyman Hall . . . 




• 1783 


George W. Towns . . 


1847 


John Houston . . 




. 1784 


Howell Cobb .... 


1851 


Samuel Elbert . . 




. 1785 


Herschel V. Johnson . . 


1853 


Edward Telfair . . 




. 1786 


Joseph E. Brown . . . 


1857 


George Matthews . 




. 1787 


James Johnson, Provisiona 


/ 


George Handley . 




. 1788 


Governor .... 


. 1865 



15' 



152 



GOVERNORS OF GEORGIA 



State^ (Continued) 

Charles J. Jenkins . . . 1865 
Gen. T. H. Ruger, U. S. S., 

Military Governor . . 1868 
Rufus H. Bullock . . . .1868 
Benjamin Conley, President 

of Senate 1871 

James M. Smith .... 1872 
Alfred H. Colquitt . . .1876 



Alexander H. Stephens 




1882 


James S. Boynton, President 


of Seiiate 1883 


Henry D. McDaniel 






1883 


John B. Gordon . 






1886 


W. J. Northen . . 






1890 


W. Y. Atkinson . 






1894 


A. D. Chandler . 






1898 


Joseph M. Terrell . 






1902 



JUL 26 1904 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




